Coincidental You
by australialovin
Summary: AU: Laura Marano is a successful actress, singer & dancer, finally getting her big break when she lands a job for the Broadway revival of Cats! She's always been on her own, always up for a challenge, always on her feet. Six months into living in New York, she manages to find herself continuously bumping into Ross Lynch,the hotshot lead singer of R5, who just WON'T leave her alone.
1. Starbucks

**AN: So this is my first fanfic! I was thirsty for some Rydellington fanfiction, and not being able to find some good ones anywhere, I decided to write my own! But then it mainly turned into a Raura story. Don't worry, there's going to be plenty of Rydellington, don't go anywhere!**

**This is rough and not very up to date-meaning if I get any information wrong or I portray something wrong-pleasee let me know. I am not part of the Switched at Birth fandom, so I do not know anything about the Vanessa Marano/Sean Berdy ship, so please do not hate me if you hate that certain ship. To me, it makes the most sense in what I want to write in the story. Okay, here goes! Hope you enjoy!**

"2 cool lime refreshers, one Venti one Grande, and a Venti Vanilla frappucino please!" Laura Marano asked, going through her purse to grab her Starbucks giftcard, a gift she received from her sister Vanessa, coincidentally the person she was making a Starbucks run for. They were meeting up with new babysitters for Sophia, Vanessa's daughter. Vanessa was running late, so Laura decided to order early and then run down to Central Park where they'd meet up.

"$11.41." The petite blonde said, Laura handing her card over, smiling. "Here you go Amy." She read the blonde girl's name tag. Laura had managed to develop a first name basis with the owner of the shop, and this girl must've been new, Laura having not seen her before.

The person standing behind her let out an impatient breath, tapping their foot silently. Laura ignored it. She still wasn't used to angry New Yorkers.

"I'm guessing you're Laura?" She asked, Laura nodding in response. "Jesse mentioned you come in a lot. Nice to meet you. " Amy smiled as she swiped her card, and then frowned apologetically as she looked up. "Sorry Laura, this card was maxed out two days ago." She handed it back.

"Awh man. Okay, no problem, just gimme a sec." She dug back into her purse, bringing out 2 crumpled dollars and looking for the crisp ten she had put in her wallet that morning.

The tapping noise had persisted behind her, the person exhaling yet another impatient breath.

She turned her head slightly, looking at the culprit, the black shoe getting faster as it bobbed up and down. Digging a little deeper, she managed to find the bill but was interrupted by a large silk black arm wrapping around her and slapping a 20 on the counter.

"Look, I don't have time for your little formalities. I have a meeting in 10 minutes, can we speed this up so I can order?" A male voice said, impatiently crossing his arms.

Laura turned to look at the man, and cursed under her breath. She didn't really have time either to deal with this, Vanessa and Sophia must've already been at the park. Especially since this wasn't just any other angry New Yorker. It was a _handsome_ angry New Yorker. He looked like he was in his mid 20's, his lean yet muscular build seen through his black work suit. He really did look like he was in a rush, his tie halfway finished, hanging in a loose knot around his neck, his hair dishelved.

"I mean I know you'd loveee to be friends and chat but I don't want to risk my future assets to be screwed over by a girl who can't order fast enough."

Laura handed over her 10, in exchange for the drinks, throwing Amy a "I got this" look as Amy looked slightly terrified. She swiftly tucked the drinks under one arm as she picked up his bill with the other.

"I'm pretty sure you're an asset to the asshole community, just as long as you maintain the horrible attitude, I mean keep it up! And then let's pray that next time you don't make assumptions, and jump to conclusions, and let the lady" Laura smiled, folding the 20 neatly and sliding it into the front pocket of his suit, "pay for the damn thing herself." She tapped his chest gently, feeling the built muscle underneath. His jaw went slack.

Laura made her way towards the door, apologizing to the customers behind him, waving off Amy's protests for her change. "Just put it on a card. I'll pick it up later." She smiled at her, looking at the guy one last time. He ran a hand through his blonde hair, looking a little speechless, his dark, brown eyes questioning her. She smirked, glad she put him in his place, and opened the door to leave without a second glance.

"Aunt Laurie!" Sophia cried out as

she ran towards her and latched on to Laura's legs. She smiled at the raven haired 7 year old, her mom right behind her. "Hi sweetie! Look what I brought you! Just ask your mommy if it's okay first!" She handed the lime drink over, Sophia accepting it, gently carrying it to her mom with her arms extended as if she were holding up a stray animal she had found. Which, was VERY often.

"Mommy! Aunt Laurie brought me my favorite juice! Can I have it?" She asked sweetly.

"No limes and caffeine free!" Laura added.

Vanessa smiled, bending down to match her daughters height. "Sure honey. Just don't forget to say-"

"Thank you!" Sophia smiled cheekily at Laura.

"Always! Anything for my favorite niece." Laura said, sitting down at the bench the two were just at. Sophia sipped tentatively, then set down the cup and ran back towards the playground.

"I'm so sorry, there was an asshole harassing me at Starbucks." She apologized, hugging her sister and handing her frappucino over.

"Are you okay? Did you make sure you weren't followed? Did Jesse call the police?" Vanessa asked, looking over Laura's shoulder.

"Yeah I'm fine, don't worry about it. Sorry, I should've said bothering, not harassing. I was holding up the line. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that." Laura face palmed.

Vanessa had her fair share of stalkers and crazy fans, and she knew what it was like to have old creepy men bother her on the street. It was that, _and_ the paparazzi that ensued.

Once a couple years ago, a guy stopped her for a picture, recognizing her from Switched at Birth. When she excused herself to leave, he wouldn't leave her alone, following her & asking for more pictures and physically harassing her, trying to drag her away and into his car (by her hair). Vanessa managed to break his nose in self defense before she ran away and got help.

He plead not guilty and swore that him and Vanessa were just having a couple argument, like any married couple would and that he was in love with her and that they shouldn't take his wife away from him. The guy got 5 years in the physiatric ward, patrole and a restraining order.

Vanessa believed in having her keys at hand just incase of attack, never going anywhere by herself, and telling everybody her whereabouts just so she was safe and so that someone could take action if they didn't hear back. Laura even got pepper spray from Vanessa every Christmas.

"Hey, it's fine. Don't worry about it!" Vanessa said, nudging her arm.

Laura sheepishly smiled, waving her off. "I know, I just use some words so lightly I forget sometimes to take them into consideration."

"No! Stop worrying! It's fine. I'm just glad that you don't get perved on as much as I do. I mean it's bound to happen, that's what pepper's spray for, but just please be safe. It's in the past, it doesn't matter anymore. He can't come anywhere near me, and I have Sean now. I've also got Sophia _and_ I have you especially! Who else gets an amazing Broadway opportunity and gets to live across the hall from her sister!" Vanessa said, shaking Laura silly.

Laura laughed along, watching Sophia as she smiled happily at them on the swings.

"Yeah yeah. It ain't much." She joked, punching Vanessa in the arm.

"Whatever. You still love me. And Sophia." She replied, shouldering her purse. "The sitter had to postpone by the way. Another one is coming to meet Sean and I later. So you can go to the theater now if you want, but can you take Sophia to the firm and drop her off first? Bill called me last minute and needs me to sign paperwork for stuff." Vanessa asked as Sophia walked back towards the two women. Bill was Vanessa's manager, almost like a second father to the two girls, welcoming Laura with open arms once she moved to New York.

"Hey Sophia, how do you feel about spending the day with me?" Laura asked the girl, ruffling her hair as she sipped her juice.

She smiled cheekily, jumping up and down, which was such a cute sight when her cup nearly fell out of her hands. "Yes! Can I please, Mommy? Aunt Laurie is the best!" Her blue eyes begged.

"It's totally fine. I don't have rehearsal for another hour and a half so we have time to kill." Laura stood up, holding her hand out for Sophia's cup, which she finished.

"She can watch rehearsal and then I'll drop her off, sound good?" She asked Vanessa, who was typing away madly on her phone.

"Thank you so much, I'm sorry it was so last minute. Plus I figured she needed a day with just the two of you, she ADORES watching you dance, & she misses you all the time when you're doing previews." She smiled, bending down again. "Bye Sophia, Mommy will see you at 2 o'clock, okay? I want you to listen to Aunt Laura, she's going to take you to her dance practice and then take you to Daddy's work, okay?"

"Okay. I'll be a good girl, don't worry about me. I love you Mommy. " She replied, hugging her mom, and it melted Laura's heart.

When Sean and Vanessa had gotten married, they werent planning on having kids so young. When they did charity and philanthropy work with varying organizations, they stumbled upon Sophia's story. She was only a baby when she was put into fostercare because her mom had passed during labor and there was no father in the picture-or family relation. Sophia was severely deaf in her left ear, and was unwanted by countless foster families. The Hispanic orphanage where she lived neglected her, and Sophia had gone without treatment for her ear for the first four years of her life. They found her when police & UNICEF had seized the shelter. It pulled the heart strings of both the newlyweds, and with all the right paperwork, they adopted her immediately. It's been 3 years since, and little Sophia can fluently speak Spanish, English, and American Sign Language. She had gotten Cochlear implants, but still signed 24/7.

Laura loved Sophia like she was her own, but she was in no way ready for kids. She was only 21, yet her sister had already taken on the kids challenge at her age. Laura and Vanessa were only three years apart, and similar in so many ways, but Laura felt like her life hadn't even begun until she moved to New York. Sure, she had been at UCLA and lived with her parents, and it was great, but now it was her time to take on the world. As cliche as it sounds, but she couldn't do half of what her sister had done by the time she turned 22. An amazing job, a husband and a beautiful daughter. Laura couldn't possibly have the other 2/3rds of that in the next year or so.

Or could she?

"Okay, bye Sophia. I love you too, so very much. Love you too Laura." Vanessa hugged her sister, and walked towards the street to hail a cab.

Laura threw both of their cups away, and turned to Sophia. "Ready to go?" She asked, as Sophia nodded, Laura holding her arms out to pick her up.

Instead, Sophia took hold of her hand and puffed up her chest slightly. "No, I'm a big girl Aunt Laurie, almost 8. I can walk."

Laura laughed heartily, admiring the little girls determination. She took a lot after Vanessa , except her eyes. Vanessa and Laura both inherited the dark Italian brown eyes, but Sophia's was blue, like Sean's. Her chestnut hair was longer, Laura noticed, and she was slightly tan from spending her time out in the sun, since school was almost over and the weather had gotten nicer. Laura realized how much she missed in the past month. Little Sophia was growing.

"Well alright then." Laura said, holding her hand firmly as they walked towards the street and towards the theater.


	2. Berdy Firm

**AN: So I'd like to thank all the lovely people who left me sweet messages and reviews both on here and Tumblr! If you don't already follow me, I'm both **_**australialovin**_** (my main/ocean/beach blog) and **_**australialovingly**_** (my fandom blog and where I'll be updating Councidental You also.)**

**There's more Raura action coming soon, so stay tuned! Hope you enjoy!**

Laura was sure hoping she wouldn't get frowned upon. She and Sophia had just stopped for froyo and Laura hadn't planned on not being able to go home and change before dropping her off at Sean's workplace.

Rehearsal was great, Sophia bringing laughter and joy when she did ballet barre with them, and was adored by the entire cast and crew. Everyone loved it when she brought Sophia in, she even sat in the front row when they had to rehearse on stage, popcorn and all. Cats was exciting for little Sophia, the costumes and dancing and singing. She drew different pictures of her version of "Jemima" and Laura hung them up all around her dressing room.

After rehearsal she managed to throw on extra running clothes in her dance bag and had braided her hair down her back quickly, throwing on a Nike headband. Might as well look "gym hot" than "sweaty hot" when she dropped off Sophia right? Sophia in the meantime sat fidgety in Laura's chair and pouted, demanding lunch because she was hungry.

"Aunt Laurieeee. Hurry!" She kept saying, Laura trying to gather all her belongings quickly. The theater wasn't far, so she decided to leave all her things there except her keys and phone.

She managed to wipe off all the sweat on her face in the taxi ride on the way there, not having enough time to wash up before Sophia got even more impatient and demanded ice cream. She teased Vanessa countless times on how whipped she was by her own daughter. But she understood now. That girl had immense power over anyone with her bright blue eyes.

After getting lunch at a local diner, they stopped by a froyo place, Laura hoping the salad she had earlier would get along well with the chocolate she was about to get. It would be hell on her throat if she had too much, so she decided to split some with Sophia.

Now they stood there in the elevator, Sophia's head on Laura's shoulder. The ice cream didn't last the three blocks it took to walk from the froyo shop to the firm, so Laura had to carry her.

She started sweating again, and was fretting over the froyo Sophia spilled onto Laura's leggings, the melting cup in her hand for Sean and the drool emitting off of Sophia and right down Laura's shirt.

The elevator dinged open as she walked towards the small receptionist desk. "Hey Laura! Sophia duty?" The red head asked as she stopped up front, Sophia snoring slightly. "You bet." Laura answered.

"They're on lunch right now with some clients, but you can go on in." She said, gesturing to the hallway on the left. Laura nodded. "Thanks Sarah." She smiled.

Laura walked down the hallway and stopped short of the door with Sean's name. Although Sean was a successeful actor much like his wife, his parents owned and started the firm in New York ever since he was young. He helped out his siblings in cases, and had originally planned to be a lawyer before he started acting and doing stand up. He and Vanessa were settled down now, and Sean officially joined the firm two years ago. They specialized in representing A-list celebrities and Sean specialized in Malpractice Law.

Sophia was beginning to stir as Laura knocked, opening the door and peeking through. "Delivery! One girl and melting cup of froyo for Mr. Berdy!" Laura said as she walked in, met with familiar and non-familiar smiles all around as she walked in, but then stopped short as her eyes landed on a blonde head, with the same dark eyed questioning look she had last seen him with.

"Oh man, what did you do to knock her out?" Sean joked, pulling her in for a one armed hug, kissing her cheek, and then kissing Sophia's forehead. This finally woke her up, yawning and stretching as she hit her father's head with her fist. Laughs emitted from the room as Sophia's eyes popped open. "Daddy!" She wrapped her arms around his neck and leapt onto him, Laura's arms breathing a sigh of relief.

"I'm all tuckered out. She came to watch rehearsal, did some ballet with us and then demanded froyo afterwards. The she got tired walking here across the street, so like a good samaritan I carried her the rest of the 2 and a half blocks." Laura signed, laughing.

"Say thank you Sophia." Sean signed, looking down at his daughter, who nestled her head on his neck. "Thank you Sophia" she whispered sleepily, not bothering to sign it.

Laura smiled, setting down the yogurt cup. "She insisted on getting Daddy ice cream too, by the way." Sean laughed.

"I gotta go change for tonight, but I'll see you guys at home." Laura turned to leave, but was stopped when Sean reached for her arm.

"Wait, Laura! Sorry, seems I've lost my manners." Sean signed, gesturing to the people in the room besides him, Tyler, Sean's brother, and David, Sean's cousin, who wasn't deaf and the main translator for whenever they had clients.

"Formalities- everybody, this is Laura, you all know Sophia. Laura, this is Ellington Ratliff, and these are the Lynches. Riker, Rocky, Rydel, and Ross. These are their parents, Stormie and Mark. They all extended their hands one by one as their name was called, smiling warmly. Half were blond, the other brunettes. They took after each other quite a lot, an impressively beautiful group of people. When she got to the brown eyed man who happened to be Ross, she shook his hand longer, surprised at the shock she felt snaking up her arms.

She could tell he felt it too.

After shaking everyone's hands Laura apologized one last time, waved, and turned to leave. She got out of there quickly, her heart racing a mile a minute.

She got to the elevator, resting her head on the glass as she ascended down.

He looked different this time, more relaxed and not the tense figure he was this morning. His suit jacket was off, a crisp white button up underneath and his black tie knotted neatly at his neck this time. His handshake was strong, Laura feeling his muscles tightening in the shirt that looked awfully snug.

Dammit Laura! Don't think that way! He was the impatient arrogant asshole you wanted to shout at this morning. You couldn't possibly be attracted to him!

But she was.


	3. In The Back of a Taxi Cab

**AN: If you read this chapter before 7/12/14- I accidentally posted the rough draft of the chapter. So I apologize for all the side notes and comments made myself & my beta. Here's the new and improved version for those of you coming back and re-reading. **

**For the newcomers, thanks for reading!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything!**

"Where and what time do I need to call you to make sure you're home?" Laura answered her phone, as that was the automatic answer when Vanessa called. No matter what, when Ness called, she answered. Laura even had Anna, the stage hand, hold her phone during shows.

"No, not going anywhere today, but, Sophia mentioned and wanted to come watch opening night. Will you get us tickets?"

Laura smiled. The old business man walking the opposite way smiled back. Not all New Yorkers on the street were mean. Laura turned the corner, the Starbucks' sign across the street visible from a mile away.

"Of course. It's in three weeks. Sorry I didn't mention it earlier by the way." She apologized.

"Nah, don't worry about it. I know you've been busy. You have a matinee today right?"

"Yeah, kind of. It's more like a dress rehearsal since most critics like coming on weeknights."

"If you're up for it, wanna come and have with dinner with us tonight? I'm sorry about the apartment by the way. Doesn't mean you can't come and hang out anymore. Sophia isn't the one who misses you, we all do."

It had been two weeks since she saw the either of them last. Despite the lavish furnishing and great quality of the apartment _and_ building, it turns out that Laura's had the worst of the _cockroach problem._ She ignored the tiny scratching on her wall noises at night, thinking of it as nothing, and just listened to music to fall asleep. It worked for six months, but when she found one in her bathtub, it was game over.

The entire building had to evacuate in order to fumigate. Laura crashed with Vanessa and them for a week at Tyler's house but then had managed to find another apartment across their old building. Like before, Laura's side of the apartment complex got the brunt of the cockroach problem, exterminators drilling holes into the walls and etc., so Laura had to find a place for the month. Vanessa and Sean didn't, since their walls were untouched.

The new apartment was loads nicer than her old one and actually cost less when it came to rent. Sophia was sad her favorite aunt would no longer live across the hall from her. But they all helped her move some boxes and unpack.

"It's fine! I really like it here. I just gotta get more boxes and get the rest of my stuff out. I just have some clothes, books and things lying around. The movers are bringing the new couch over soon." Laura replied.

"Awh, I'm glad. Wish I could help today but Sophia doesn't get out of school for another week and I have work."

"Hey, it's fine! Really! You guys help me out all the time. I got this, plus I'm almost done. No worries."

Laura could tell Vanessa was shaking her head through the phone. "Fine fine. Before I let you go- I forgot to tell you that you're a hit at the office, everyone loves when you come in and a couple of them are actually planning to come see the show."

Laura eyed the Starbucks door as it got closer, swinging it open to let herself inside. "That's sweet. I'll try to have them let me bring you guys backstage when the firm decides to get together and come. And of course I'll come have dinner tonight."

"Hey Laura." Jesse greeted her as she walked into Starbucks.

Laura slid her sunglasses onto her head. "Hey. I come in here way too much. After joining the show I swore you guys off but lime doesn't do shit to your throat, so here I am." She laughed.

"Did Amy tell you what happened?" She asked, setting her arms on the counter.

"She did. Loves you, by the way, thinks you're awesome. Here's your card by the way, you wanna fill it up?"

"It already is." A petite blond head turned around the corner as she stepped behind the counter. "True thing about thinking you're awesome, you served him right."

Laura laughed. "Thanks, haha. Wait, what did you mean it was already filled?"

Amy shrugged. "The guy wouldn't leave unless the twenty was put on your card. I mean I kept asking him if he had his meeting to get to, but he was stubborn as hell."

"God dang it, that-that assumption making dick who thinks I can't pay for a damn thing myself! Take it back or I'm going to throw it away." Laura exclaimed as Amy slid her the card.

"Go for it!" She heard Jesse say as she picked up the card, lifting it and turning around and planning to chuck it into the nearest trash can, until a large hand enclosed itself over her wrist.

There he was again, the same piercing questioning look in his eyes. He was dressed down this time, more relaxed than ever before. He was in a simple blue baseball shirt and khakis, black socks peeking out over his Converse. "Now why would you throw that away?" He asked, his voice amused.

She wrenched her arm out of his grasp and righted herself. Avoiding his gaze, she looked over his shoulder and eyed the trash can near the door.

"I have my own money, thank you very much. I don't need to accept gifts from strangers. Especially asshole strangers like you." She retorted, wanting to face palm-she couldn't think of any other words she could use against him.

"But we're not strangers, _Laura_." He said cooly, ignoring the insults.

Laura fidgeted, crossing her arms over her flannel shirt. She usually didn't care what'd she wear, but today she was dressed down more than ever, her nice clothes sparse, in boxes at the old apartment. Her black leggings and dirty Converse made her feel less than great, and she really wished she looked nicer. Her hair was quickly put up in her rush to get out. _And_ she didn't have an ounce of makeup. She couldn't because there would be no point since she had shows and they'd just wipe it all off when she got to the makeup chair. Laura knew she wouldn't win. Her fierce demeanor would have no effect if she didn't actually _look_ fierce.

Laura sighed. "Listen, I'd love to stay and chat, but I don't have time for your _formalities_, Ross." she retorted, brushing past his shoulder and made way towards the trash can.

He ran towards her and blocked her from tossing it away again, bringing their bodies flush. Laura fidgeted, uncomfortable at the way her heart beat faster.

"Let me make it up to you." He plucked the card out of her hand and pocketed it. "Yesterday was out of line. I'm sorry. Truce?" He asked, snaking an arm between them and held out his hand.

Laura didn't answer him, biting her tongue. His dark eyes were genuine, but she had thought about what would happened if she said yes. She wasn't ready to settle down yet. She'd only been in New York for less than year, _and _traveling all over-in fact, due to leave to California for the weekend. Laura knew that if she let this guy in, it would be for the long run, and it would be soooo hard to kick him out.

"How about a peace offering? Would you like to go to lunch?" He raised his eyebrows, sensing her hesitation. He then gestured to the counter, "Or get coffee sometime? Or now?" He asked, smiling slightly.

"I have a card." He added, pulling it out from his pocket. She laughed slightly.

"I'm sorry, I really have to go." Laura looked at the clock on the wall, cursing that she was going to be late if she didn't leave in the next 30 seconds. Amy signaled her over to the counter, handing over her lime drink. "It's on us." She whispered. Laura smiled at her gratefully, turning her attention back to him when she got to the door.

She noticed his shoulders dropped slightly, the same questioning look in his eyes. He perked up again as he thought of another idea.

"At least let me hail you a cab, it's the least I can do for making you late." Ross asked, running a hand through his hair and gesturing to the door.

_He could be an axe murderer, for all you know!_, Laura thought.

"I really can't. Sorry. " She shook her head, pushing the door open behind her. Was he always going to offer to buy things for her?

He set his arm out and stopped her, "Okay then, how about we just split a cab? I don't really have anywhere to go right now so-"

Laura squeezed the bridge of her nose, calming herself before she'd start furiously yelling at him. She'd only known him what, 10 minutes total, and he already had this effect on her. He got under her skin, jumbled her thoughts and made her extremely tongue tied. Well, tongued tied with words other than "asshole."

She threw out her arms in frustration. There was no way he'd let her just walk away. "Fine! You drop me off, don't follow me in, and promise that after this, don't come back, and leave. me. alone." She said, pushing the door and walking outside towards the street.

Before Laura could even lift her arm, he was already 5 feet in front of her, the yellow taxi pulling up.

He opened the door for her as she got in with a huff, spitting directions at the driver before he could say anything. She handed him a $20, much to Ross's protest.

The car ride was silent, Laura slightly annoyed when he sat in the back next to her instead of up front. She was relishing him not speaking, sneaking glances at him every so often, hoping he didn't notice.

He did. Mainly because he was doing the exact same thing.

Laura was looking out the window when her phone beeped, signaling a text from Vanessa.

"Dropping off Sophia after school because she wants to help you move stuff. Threw a fit this morning when I told her she can't see you for another couple of days since you'll be in California."

Before Laura could respond, she forgot Ross was in the car with her until he started mumbling.

_**"In the back of a taxi cab..."**_

She turned her head slowly, willing all of her willpower in her glare to tell him to shut up.

"Hey."

He continued, staring out the window and oblivious to her glare.

_**"One, quick turn you were on my lap.."**_

"Hey."

_**"I want you ba-**_

"Hey!"

"What?" He asked, feigning confusion, smirking.

"Dude." She huffed, not being able to say anything else, the voice in her head telling her _not_ to tell him to stop. His voice was good, dammit.

"Silence wasn't part of our deal." He replied smoothly, as he continued singing, but started belting out the lyrics.

"_**We touched hands and we pulled them back"**_ he then tried reaching for her hand and she swatted it away.

"_**I want you baddd!" **_He leaned towards her as if she was being serenaded.

He looked at her happily, looking for a trace of recognition. After a beat, he frowned. "Seriously?" He asked.

"What?" Laura said indifferently.

"Do you not know the song?" He asked incredulously.

"No..?"

"R5."

"What?"

"You don't know R5?!"

"Why?"

He sctratched his head, deep in thought. "Figures." He shrugged.

Before she could grasp what was going on, her phone rang, interrupting both of their thoughts.

"Hello?" Laura answered worriedly, since Vanessa had only just texted her a minute ago.

"Aunt Laurie?" A timid voice said.

"Sophia?! Are you okay sweetie?"

"Yeah. Will-will you move back near me?"

"You know I can't sweetie."

"I just miss you a lot. Mommy and Daddy won't hurry up and give me a brother. I'm lonely."

Laura laughed, feeling his questioning gaze on her.

"Hmm. You know what? How about I come pick you up afterschool instead of Daddy and you come help me move more boxes?"

"Really?"

"Yeah really." Laura smiled, the taxi slowing down a couple blocks from the theater, just like she asked.

"Listen, I gotta go sweetie, but I'll see you in a couple hours okay? Bye, love you."

Laura hung up, smiling, turning slightly to see if he was listening in, before she opened the door to get out. He wasn't there.

She looked at him with wide eyes as she saw him through her window as he opened her door.

Before she could say anything, he blocked her path from getting out.

"You didn't answer me earlier. Truce?"

Laura crossed her arms. "Get. Out. Of. The. Way."

He didn't budge.

"Ross, I'm going to be late!" Laura bit her tongue, immediately regretting it.

"Hey. You called me Ross. I thought I was asshole."

"You're still going to _be_ one if you don't let me go. Can you move now please?" Laura asked, desperation in her voice. She was supposed to be in the makeup chair ten minutes ago, and it'd take more time to walk the 4 blocks to the theater.

"You have to say truc-"

Laura's phone rang again, and she cringed when she say the caller ID. It was Tiffany, her makeup stylist.

"Laura you better have a good reason why you're late! You KNOW you have to be here all week before you leave Saturday! Don't make them mad!"

Laura sighed, shouldering her purse an with all her strength, managed to push past Ross's strong arms that had tried to reach out and stop her, and righted herself once she was on the sidewalk.

"I know I know. I'm sorry-I'm coming now! Be there in 4!" She threw her phone in her purse, and hurried away, throwing him the finger over her shoulder.

"I take that as a no?!" He yelled after her.

She turned around and glared at him. "Get in the fucking car. And leave. Now!" The last part less threatening, a smile creeping up her face.

He smirked and saluted her before he got in, the car speeding away. After the car was a reasonable distance away, she hurried across the street and into an alleyway, bustling through a side door of the theatre building.


	4. Marano Residence

**AN: More of a filler chapter. I was really excited to write the next two chapters so I don't think I did this one much justice, but I hope you like it either way. (:**

**I have some things planned for this story but not too far into the future. Meaning, I feel like I'm not quite sure on how I wrote the dynamic between Ross and Laura. I didn't intend for her to be so extremely annoyed with him. I also did not intend for him to like her so much, meaning, I wanted him to be mean back (only out of love) just to get a rise out of her. The main thing about this fic is that they are CONSTANTLY bumping into each other (hence Coincidentally turned Coincidental You), and their feelings increasing every time they do. So I guess I'm saying I don't know where this story is going, but I really hope you don't see what I see and like it-mainly because all of you are so sweet! So here we go! Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer- I do not own Laura, Ross, 16 Handles or A&A.**

The next day:

"Thanks so much guys." Laura said to the mover guys, who just came out of the apartment building. They were able to get her couch out of the truck and into her living room in less than 10 minutes. They nodded in response before they drove off, Laura taking a good look around her.

Sophia was on the steps, going away at an ice cream cone she just recently stocked her freezer with. Sophia decided that all the food in her fridge was bland and boring, so they made a trip to the grocery store before they headed over to the old apartment and picked up the rest of the boxes.

About 15 boxes lay around her, along with a dolly cart that Sophia could push without lifting anything. It's not like she expected her to actually "help out", but she knew her niece missed her, and the least she could do is make Sophia feel like she's really helping.

Thank god for the elevator and doorman, or else she'd be out under the blazing sun all afternoon. Thankfully she had all of her clothes now, but she still had on the sports bra and running leggings from her jog before she picked Sophia up. Sean was in a bind with some clients and was thankful Laura could watch her for the afternoon.

"Sophia, c'mon, you don't want George to get mad at you! Go get napkins from the lobby bathroom!" She chastised, the melting ice cream going down her shirt, legs, and steps.

"Sorry." She replied, before jumping up and running inside, past a very amused George.

"Are you sure you don't need those movers to come back and help you Mrs. Marano? Those boxes look heavy, and I'm pretty sure the neighbors don't appreciate your almost-swearing." George laughed, his British accent ringing through.

"Hey! I'm a grown woman with nice assets. I don't appreciate you laughing your astronaut off over there. Sophia's seven, she can't hear how much I swear, and these boxes are Hoover Dam heavy. And I can lift them perfectly fine _myself_.

Laura bent down to pick up a box to prove a point, setting it down on the dolly. She went for another box, and another, until the dolly was packed. She sighed with content, brushing her hands together. Sophia had bounded down the stairs, napkins in hand, and cleaned up her mess before coming down and looking up at her aunt, hands on her hips.

"You forgot to move the dolly up the steps before putting the boxes on it Aunt Laurie." She said simply, George stifling a laugh.

Laura slumped. "Hoover Dam it." She muttered. "Go get me some water please Sophia?" She asked, brushing some sweat off her forehead.

"But I'm eating candy right now." She replied, who pulled a half eaten chocolate bar out of her pocket and took a bite. "I don't wanna go all the way up. It takes too long."

"Sophia, what's so wrong with the elevator?"

"You're making me go up and down."

Laura sighed. "I told you to get napkins from the lobby."

"Oh."

"We need to move these boxes now if you wanna go get dinner with Daddy in an hour. I got a show tonight kiddo."

"You're dropping me off now?!" Her bottom lip quivered.

Laura sighed again. "Well it did take time for me to pick you up, go to the store, pick up my boxes and for the movers to drop off the couch. We gotta hurry. Your dad's waiting for you. And your mom's running errands so she'll be at the restaurant after I pick you up."

Sophia still pouted, not saying anything.

"Can you please got get more water for me? We have to hurry."

Sophia reached behind her ear and pulled off her hearing aid, crossing her arms.

_Shit just got real,_ Laura thought. She never took them off- at all, unless sleep.

"I'm not going home. You don't come see me anymore because you're too busy and you moved and I don't wanna leave yet."

Laura started getting a little frustrated. She loved Sophia, but she was stubborn (like her mom). She initially was the only person who ever really took Sophia places and hung out with her besides her parents. She had friends, but they were young and didn't really understand being deaf. Sophia could hear perfectly fine with her hearing aid in but Vanessa told her a couple weeks back (after a doctors checkup) that her right ear may stop functioning and lose hearing.

Laura rolled her shoulders back standing tall. She took a deep breath and tried to think about to say, because she'd never been upset with her niece, but she was tired and losing patience.

"Sophia, please help me." She started signing. "I promised your father you'd be home, you have homework and school tomorrow and I NEED to get ready. I promise we can stop to get 16 Handles before I drop you off." She desperately tried to make her cooperate, hoping froyo would change her mind.

"No! You can't bribe me with more ice cream." She signed, giving her the silent treatment.

"Sophia do NOT start giving me the silent treatment." She signed, a tiny bit furious. This is why she couldn't have kids yet, there's no way she could be able to reason with them.

"I'm not going to go anywhere. I'm staying right HERE." She signed, crossing her arms, and indignantly taking another bite out off her chocolate bar.

Laura sighed. "Fine. Do you want me to call your father to come pick you up right now? Because I picked you up for us to have fun but you don't want to cooperate. Fine Sophia, you win. You don't want to move, you don't have to. " She signed, throwing her arms up in surrender and went to grab her phone out of her pocket.

**She's being stubborn. Come pick her up. Will explain later.**

Sophia then burst, signing and yelling frantically, Laura not being able to keep up.

"You can't make me go! I don't wanna go home! I don't wanna!" She then started crying and stomping her feet.

Laura bent down to pick up a box and move it off the dolly, but failed to do so, her arms weak from the previous time. She collapsed on the ground, the box in her lap, her head propped up by her hand.

"Sophia, stoooop. You crying and throwing a fit isn't going to change anything." Laura said, rubbing her eyes, sudden exhaustion falling upon her shoulders.

Sophia then stood up, leaving the last of her chocolate bar on the step, and ran past Laura, disappearing behind the street corner.

"Shit." She said as George raised and eyebrow. "She's our of hearing range!" she snapped at him, getting up on her feet. Little kids and their ways with persuasion.

"Sophia! Stop running!" She yelled, turning the corner, met with relief. A familiar blond was carrying Sophia over their shoulder, as she flailed her arms wildly, beating his back.

Laura breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God."

"Laura?" was all he said when they made eye contact, setting her down upright.

"You've gotta listen to your mom kiddo. Time to go home." Holding her steady to keep from running again.

Sophia then stopped struggling in his arms and burst out laughing.

He looked at her, an eyebrow raised. "Am I that funny or does she laugh at being told what to do?"

"You got her to stop crying, at least." Laura said, avoiding the question. She cringed, looking at the laughing form. _Me, Sophia's mom? He thought that?_

Sophia managed to regain herself, taking deep breaths. "Aunt Laurie's not my mom!" She burst into more fits of laughter.

His mouth formed an O, staring down at the little girl who had put a hand on his thigh for support, clutching her stomach.

Just then, a taxi pulled up, Sean getting out, the door still open as he walked over to them.

"I was driving by and saw you guys. What's going on?" He signed, worry etched on his faced.

"I should probably go." Ross said, patting Sophia's head. "See you in a bit." He said to Laura, jogging away towards the entrance of the local bistro, before Laura could even remember he was standing there.

Laura sighed, signing "She didn't wanna go home. I still have to move stuff and she was being difficult. Sorry." She signed, pushing Sophia forward.

Sean gave his daughter a stern look. "Apologize. You know your aunt is busy. And I would make us stay to help her move but your mom is probably waiting at the restaurant right now, wondering what's taking us so long."

Sophia sighed and turned around. "I'm sorry. I just want to hang out with you more." She said, hanging her head.

All the frustration in Laura released, feeling bad that she had gotten so upset. She thought of something.

"How about this? You wanna go to California with me this weekend? I have a dance workshop?" She signed, looking over at Sean for confirmation.

Sophia's eyes widened as she turned to her dad. "Please Daddy? Can I go?!" She asked, jumping up and down.

Laura looked at Sean, who looked slightly skeptical. "I figured you and Vanessa needed some alone time for the weekend and this willl be nice for her."

Sean still looked hesitant, but smiled.

"We did want to plan a date night for a while now, she's been so busy lately with the movie." He looked down at Sophia, ruffling her hair. "Alright kiddo."

The screams of joy and excitement that erupted from the little girl made Laura smile, but then had noticed the sun disappearing behind the building in front of them.

"Gotta go! See you in a couple days! Pack light-it's gonna be hot." She signed, hugging Sophia and waving goodbye to them as she headed back to the apartment building.

Laura sighed, looking at the dolly and the box she discarded when she ran after Sophia. _Gotta get this over with_, she thought.

She bent down, remembering to bend from the knees, and groaning as she put the box on top of the steps.

She went for another one, this box heavier, and her arms strained with effort midair-

"Need help with that?"

Laura jumped, the box dropping with a thud.

She turned and glared at him, who was holding a water bottle out. Ross. He was _everywhere_.

"Didn't your mom ever tell you not to sneak up on someone?" She crossed her arms.

He crossed his arms in response. "Didn't your mom ever tell you not to talk to strangers? You know, since you still consider me one?"

Laura huffed, snatching the water bottle out of the crook of his arm.

"How long have you been standing there?" She asked, raising her eyebrow. "Checking out my ass?" She smirked, still in her running clothes. Two can play at this game.

"Enough to know you're drenched in sweat, there isn't any water laying around here & that Sophia wouldn't get you one. And maybe a little." He responded, cracking a smile.

"Plus, I could hear your one sided argument across the street. You yell waaaaay too loud."

Laura's eyes widened. "I was not yelling at her!"

"Okay, then, you were _talking_ too loud. I could hear your 'Hoover Dam's across the street.

_Ugh, it's because of the show. Stupid voice projection. _George was right, everyone probably heard her.

He laughed at her lack of response, her heart beating uncomfortably fast again. Like she was nervous.

This made her uncomfortable. She couldn't possibly like this guy! She was in no way ready for a relationship. She was Laura Marano. Broadway star. Successeful. Didn't need no man. Especially after what happened everything that happened with, with- she couldn't even say his name. That was a mistake.

She turned around abruptly and set the bottle down, throwing him a thanks over her shoulder. She went to lift another box, and was swept aside.

"I'm not kidding. You look like you're struggling." He took the box from her hands and set it effortlessly on the steps.

"So you're saying I can't lift these by-"

"I'm saying you're struggling because you need someone to help you, I'm not underestimating your strength. If you're in a rush to get to work then at least let me help you." He picked up another box easily.

Laura bit her lip.

"Are you stalking me? Wanting to help me out just so you can find out where I live?"

He laughed. "Well to me, it looks like it's always been _coincidences_. Not every day I bump into a pretty girl like you." He winked, picking up another box.

"More like run into her multiple times on purpose! That's called stalking!"

He laughed again. "I see the concern." He said after setting it down, dusting off his hands. "I'll help you move the boxes on the cart and then I'll leave. How about that? I'm gonna see you again tomorrow anyways."

"How're you so sure I'm going to say yes? Or bump into me again?" She made air quotes, looking at him uncertainly.

He just smiled at her cheekily, and picked up another box.

**AN: This was reallllly long! I felt like it needed to be broken up somewhere but the next chapter takes place in California in Laura's POV so I needed these parts to be separate. Reviews are lovely! (:**


	5. Hilton

**AN: Super excited to write this! What happens in this chapter is what originally inspired this whole Raura fic! It just popped into my head, and so: voila! **

**I have attended many dance camps and a dance workshop hosted by the Dallas Mavs Dancers, for example. The idea for the audition dance in this chapter will closely relate to them, or the Miami Heat Dancers. But less twerking. (; This is supposed to be jazz hip hop, very fierce, and less cheer-y. There aren't any poms involved, btw. Sorry for the explanation, just don't want anyone to get the wrong idea! **

**Enjoy! (:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything. **

"Were in LA!" Sophia exclaimed happily, clutching Laura's hand.

They were waiting for their luggage, Sophia watching the luggage belt circle around and around.

Laura glanced around their surroundings, scoping for paparazzi. They weren't usually a problem up in New York, since the firm was very powerful, and Sean and Vanessa asked for privacy when it came to Sophia. The media did listen for awhile, and there were absolutely zero pictures released to the public. The public eye hadn't really seen her grow up, up until a year ago. Now, they just had to ask Sean & Vanessa permission to publish pictures or stories. It was all harmless, just stuff with them at the park or shopping for groceries.

But they were in LA now, and it was free game. Sophia had been to numerous places before with her parents, but this was the first time being by herself with just her aunt. Laura's only directions from them was that she keep an eye on Sophia at all times. They hired security to pick them up, drive them, and go everywhere with them. Laura didn't mind at all. Vanessa and Sean always sent security to take care of her wherever she traveled now, and when she came up to visit when she still lived in Cali.

They got their luggage, strolling around until they found what seemed to be-

"George?!" Laura asked incredulously, looking at the man who was holding up the "Marano & Marano-Berdy" sign.

"Ah, George is my twin, Miss Marano. But I'm glad you know of him, you're one of very few people to mistake us."

"Small world!" Sophia said, smiling up at him.

"I'm Gerard, and I'll just be escorting you to the limo that awaits you." He motioned behind him, holding his other hand out for Laura's suitcase.

She waved him off. It wasn't too small, fitting both their clothes for the 3 days and 2 nights they were staying. Laura just had her purse and Sophia had her backpack to hold all her coloring books, markers, and her iPad to watch movies on the plane ride.

"I got it. Thank you though." She smiled, motioning them forward.

Sophia wasn't fazed at all by the limo, which was equipped with soda drinks and food galore. She lay her head on Laura's lap and passed out, Laura sending a pic to her sister.

**Landed safely, now in the limo. Troublemaker just passed out. Text you guys soon (: **

The left New York at noon & it was noon now in LA, the sun shining brightly than ever.

Gerard dropped them off at the hotel, and Laura told him that they'd be ready to go out in an hour. Two burly men in black suits escorted them inside.

They stayed at the Hilton, where the auditions would take place the next day.

When Laura got the call a couple weeks back to fly out to California, she jumped at the chance. During her time at UCLA, she majored in theater performance, focusing on just singing and acting, wanting Broadway more than anything. She danced her whole life, and realized how much she missed it halfway through her freshman year. She didn't really have money or time to go back to the studio, so she decided to try out for the UCLA dance team.

It was probably the best decision she had ever made. It kept her active, _loads_ more busy, but the job opportunities came at her like wildfire. She was able to land multiple small roles in pilots, comercials and concert performances. Sure they were small, but they added to her resume, and when the nationwide call for _Cats_ came along, she nailed the role of Jemima easily.

The university allowed that she could transfer credits to NYU, or just come back to finish whenever she wanted. The show took up a lot of time, so when the rush settled down, she'd take a couple online classes and hopefully finish in the next year.

So Laura was now a famous alumni of the UCLA dance team, and occasionally spent time with any of her teammates that came up to New York on vacation. They were all great friends and were excited, but saddened when Laura left.

Jane, her director, called her up and asked if she wanted to come out and teach the audition routine with her old teammates to the new girls trying out. And here they were now!

She had gotten multiple phone calls when she confirmed that she was coming- all her friends excited for her to come back.

When they walked into the lobby off the hotel, she was swarmed with hugs and a "welcome back" sign that hung across the back lobby wall.

Tanya, the assistant director of the team (who was once side by side with Laura when they first tried out) hugged her first, taking her luggage out of her hand and passed it to an awaiting bellhop.

"You guys look exhausted, c'mon, come eat something!"

Sophia yawned in response, smiling sleepily. "I am pretty hungry."

Laura laughed, ruffling her niece's hair. "Thanks, but were just gonna go take a nap first. I'm exhausted trying to keep this little one occupied. She passed out in the limo, since it's right about time for her to take a nap New York time."

Laura shouldered her purse, smiling gratefull at the women around her. "We'll come back down in half and hour and catch up, okay?" She added.

Tanya waved them off. "No worries, take all the time you need. The girls will be coming in pretty soon so we'll be busy welcoming them. I'll have them send lunch up to your room."

Laura hugged her one last time. "Thanks so much Tanya."

* * *

2 hours later, Laura had woken up, having crashed into bed the minute they walked in.

Sophia sat criss crossed at her feet, looking at the iPad in her lap.

"Whatcha doing kiddo?" Laura sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Watching Barbie Swan Lake. I woke up 5 minutes ago."

"You hungry?"

She held up the sandwich in her hand that was previously hidden from Laura's line of sight.

"Right. They sent up lunch. Did you open the door?"

"No, Gerard's guards dropped it off in the kitchen."

Laura got up, shuffling over to the bedroom door, and walked into the kitchen.

Their suite wasn't massive, but comfortable enough for them to reside in the next couple of days.

They ate lunch together, an assortment of deli sandwiches w/ fries & salad on the side, complete with cookies for Sophia and a pitcher of what seemed to be Starbuck's cool lime refresher. At the discovery of this, they did a happy dance, & finished the pitcher to the very last drop.

Later that afternoon, Laura took Sophia sight seeing, promising to catch up with her friends later.

They went to Chinatown, the Walk of Fame, and hiked up the Hollywood sign, taking gorgeous pictures right as the sun set.

On the ride back, Laura was transferring tthe pictures on her camera to her phone, not really paying attention to Sophia, sitting across the far side of her as she was playing with her iPad and humming along to the music she was Bluetooth-ing to the limo. Loudly.

Vanessa was used to it, having two deaf people in the house, but Laura - not really.

_**Here comes that movie scene, one you hate, so cliche**_

_**That moment when we kiss, by the lake, pouring rain**_

_**I ain't no superman, but I can, change your world **_

_**Oooooh, here comes forever girl**_

"Hmm, that's actually pretty good. Who's it by?" Laura asked, looking up.

"What?!" Sophia yelled over the music.

"Who's it by?!" Laura yelled back.

"Third Eye Blind!"

"What?!" She asked a little incredulously.

Sophia was a little too young to be listening to Third Eye Blind, they were more on the older side. Wayyyy older side.

"Third Eye Blind!" She said again, turning back to the game she was playing.

Laura sat back in the seat cushion. Hmm. _Figures_, she thought. She'd have to admit, her sister and Sean had great taste in music, so maybe they were training Sophia young.

* * *

Back at the hotel, Laura caught up with everybody, and every single one's careers were taking off. They all had graduated a week prior, Laura a little sad to miss it, but was glad to see everyone so happy. She was standing amongst future doctors, lawyers, and some actually Broadway bound! She made a mental note to recommend her apartment building to them if they ever needed to find a place to live.

Laura put Sophia to bed while the girls taught her the audition routine in her living room, getting a little tipsy in the process.

She tried to shush them, as Sophia was sleeping, but they all fell into a fit of giggles. It was nice to relax with them, catching up on love lives and current affairs.

After they had run through everything, they collapsed on the couch, chairs, and one, Brittany, on the floor.

These were the 8 girls who took her in, welcoming her onto the team like their own.

"So. Laura. Any prospects in New York?" Tanya asked, wiggling her eyebrows. Jane had stopped by to say hi earlier, but had to attend to judges and other affairs. She also said she was too old to be gossiping around with them anymore, so she left Tanya to catch Laura up on the next two upcoming days.

"What?!"

"You know. Any good looking men? Of course there are but-any in particular that pertain to you?" Brittany said, sitting up and propping her arms up on the coffee table.

Laura laughed, waving them off. "You know me. Workaholic. Too busy for romance."

"Pshh. Yeah right. Romance is never too busy for _you_. Spill, who is it? And I'm only saying that cause you're blushing." Sasha said, her dark skinned friend with wildly beautiful ringlets, cascading around her face like a mane.

"Guys. Would I seriously be _dating_ again after what happened? I'm not even _looking_." Laura laughed again, looking around at everyone's expectant faces. She couldn't say anything for a minute, trying to keep her poker face, but failed, putting her head in her hands.

"Okay! There is one." She confessed, everyone erupting in laughter and "I told you so's".

"He's a total assumption making asshole and super annoying because it's like he follows me everywhere and he thought I was Sophia's mom and he won't let me pay for anything and I swear he's stalking me but he calls it _coincidences_. Like seriously, what the hell!"

They all looked at her and laughed again, harder this time.

"Dude. You're a total control freak. He's probably in love with you and you just don't know it yet." Tanya said.

Control freak she was? Hell yes. She actually accredits her success to being so OCD about everything.

For sure he was in love with her? Hell _no_.

"Guys! He's _stalking_ me!" She exclaimed, trying to knock some sense into their heads.

After no response and more laughter, Laura gave up, swishing down another drink. She looked at the clock. It was 9 PM. This was going to be a looong night.

* * *

"Hey everybody, thanks for having me today!" She said, waving at the masses of hopefuls around her. "Now don't be nervous, were just having fun today. I was once in your shoes and absolutely terrified. Thankfully, you have about 15+ veterans welcoming and helping you out! We have 4 here today with you, Sasha, Kaitlyn, Tristan, and Kaelyn." She pointed to the girls dispersed in the left side of the crowd, their hands shooting up when they were called on.

"And we have our most recent graduates, or _alumni_, here today too! Brittany, Patricia, Shannon, and Christina. Just ask them questions, anything at all, if you get confused or stuck. Were here to help _you_!" Laura smiled at her friends on the right side of the crowd.

She looked at Sophia, donned in a black tank top and dance shorts, a bright blue sparkly

headband on top of her ponytail. She smiled up at her aunt, giving her a thumbs up. Laura dressed herself to match Sophia, wearing a blue tank with black jazz pants and black Nike tennis shoes, her hair curled to perfection and tied up halfway with a blue sparkly pin.

Laura rolled her shoulders, pressing and rolling her ankles, looking down at the gray raised platform she was standing on. "You guys ready?!" She asked, cheers and claps coming from the crowd.

"Alright, let's do this!" She said, adjusting her head mike one last time. "So this is going to be super jazzy, super sexy and very strong. The song's called Cali Girls by R5. I hope you're aware of them, I'm definitely most not! You don't have time for other music when all you hear eight times a week is '_**Midnightttt**_'" she sang, everyone laughing.

"If you're going to be on the team, you're going to be a Cali Girl! Rock it, look fierce and let your smile shine through. I know you all can." She nodded, turning her back on the crowd to begin.


	6. Hilton!

**AN: So this was originally in Rydel's point of view, as I promised some Rydellington earlier, but it didn't feel right, since this is a pivotal chapter for Raura. I have some interaction type things coming up for Rydel and Ratliff later, so please don't hate me! **

**Thanks for all the reviews and sweet messages! But on a serious note, I don't know how long I can keep writing this story. People have notified me that I might get called out for using real people on this site- and if I do, I'll just keep using Tumblr, and maybe switch over to Wattpad. I'm planning an Auslly oneshot in the future, so it'll be fine for ! I'm not leaving, no worries! Thanks so much! **

**Also- Rough drafts of chapters of 3&4 were uploaded, so I went back and re uploaded the correct versions. If you haven't, go back and read them since there may have things you missed! (;**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Laura Marano, Ross Lynch, Hollywood Records, R5, the UCLA dance team, or anything else mentioned in this chapter. All other characters are completely made up. **

"Guys! This is so exciting!" Rydel said to her brothers, climbing out of the van, the guys right behind her.

They all mumbled in response, drinking their milkshakes in silence. Ross rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Stormie waking them up at 10:00 on a Saturday was too early. He couldn't blame his mom for being mad at them when they didn't cooperate. They all got in pretty late from their flight last night, but they didn't have time to be tired. Although they were home, they'd have to fly back to New York in a few days and finalize all the paperwork with the lawyers. _And hopefully see Laura again._ They couldn't really stay home in L.A and start working on the 3rd album until this entire thing blew over.

In the midst of the release of the 2nd album, the tour was going great, until someone had accused the label of stealing songs from a writer who no longer worked with the label.

That someone was Kara Kane, who now worked with Sony and had many powerful lawyers at her side. What had been the kick was that, they discovered files of Kara's songs on Daniel's computer, so in consequence, almost half of the songs on the album were compromised. The label offered to put her name under the album and songs for credit, but she refused. So, they had to take the album off the market completely, and since they were already on tour, they re-released it as an EP.

Some top people of the label were fired, including Daniel, their beloved songwriter of 3 years. R5 was compensated by the label, paying off all of the losses. It was devastating, but the fans were still completely supportive. They feared less people would come to the concerts, since they were cut short, but the fans ended up requesting for them to sing more covers, and songs off of _Louder _to fill the time. Yet, shows were still sold out, and everything had gone smoothly. They were on hiatus now, and going back into the studio to work on their 3rd album.

Ross also had a movie in the works, and if he got it, he'd have to split his time between LA New York. This he was really reluctant to do, since he just wanted to relax at home, but then he bumped into _Laura_. Literally. Multiple times. More like three but whatever

Today the UCLA dance team (which was the college Rydel had originally wanted to attend before R5 really took off) were holding auditions and using their song Cali Girls as the audition music. This was something Rydel had found out about through fans who had tweeted her, & the director, Jane, asked R5 if they wanted to come and watch, and Rydel unanimously made the decision for everyone. She _was _the best dancer out of the group, and the guys all agreed it was exciting to see one of their older yet still appreciated songs being put to good use. It made for great press too, as they were doing a meet & greet afterwards.

Ratliff mumbled a "calm down" and patted Rydel's shoulder, as she was basically jumping up and down in excitement. Their parents drove off, as they didn't really attend functions like these anymore. Ever since Ross had turned 21, their parents declared them an offical adult band, and only needed chaperoning once in awhile.

They walked towards the hotel lobby. The Hilton hosted them every year apparently, in the massive ball rooms , much like all the conventions Rydel used to drag them to when she was the only one out of the family who still danced competitively.

A brunette walked up to them inside the lobby, introducing herself to them as Breanna, Jane's assistant, shaking their hands. "Thanks for coming today guys. Were all big fans." She smiled sincerely, clipboard in hand. "Jane and Tanya are busy with judges right now, but I can lead you to the table where you'll be sitting and observing. Unfortunately when judging takes place you'll have to leave the room but we have a rec room & the hotel offers many different amenities. The girls are excited to meet you guys! You all were once the "rage" at The Rage." She laughed.

Rydel smiled, speaking for her brothers, who were still groggy. "Of course." Ross focused more on his music and acting career at the time, but it was still nice that they (more Riker and Rydel) got recognition from their old studio, the Rage, which was still flourishing as ever.

They walked into the large ballroom, and was met with an onslaught of young women in sparkly sport bras and dance shorts. Rydel sighed, as Ross was instantly snapped awake. "I can't tell you how much I miss this. I actually wanted to audition a couple years back." He heard Rydel say quietly, taking it all in. **(This is completely made up by the way, I do not know of Rydel's actual college plans, or if she actually plans to attend in the future.) **

Some looked their way, but were too busy intently listening to a petite brunette in the center of the room on a raised platform. The guys quickly threw their drinks away and brushed away nonexistent crumbs off their shirts, Riker & Rocky puffing out their chests slightly while Ross fixed his hair. Ratliff looked unnerved. "Awake now, guys?" Rydel joked, turning to them, Breanna smiling along.

They all nodded, their eyes still glued to the girls. _This wouldn't be too bad, _he thought.

Breanna led them to a table behind a line of empty tables for what she presumed to be the tables for the judges.

"Just call me if you need anything, I'll be in and out!" Breanna whispered, whisking away, walkie talkie in hand.

They sat down right as the brunette on the platform was finishing was seemed to be her speech. "So good luck to you all, I know you're all going to do great. Ready to go full out one last time before you get ready!?" She asked, her voice slightly familiar. _Wait a minute. _They all shouted and clapped in agreement, and it didn't click until Ross spotted a tiny carbon copy right up front.

"Is that Sophia?" Rydel asked, and then gasped. "Hey I think it's Laura, Sean's wife!" She whispered excitedly.

Ross couldn't form a coherent sentence to say "No, she's not-" before the pounding music turned on, jumbling up his thoughts, because all he could focus on was _her_.

The rest of the guys high fived when they heard their Rocky's classic guitar intro, Riker's verse filling their ears, Ross not paying attention, because right as she yelled "5,6,7,8!" she turned around, and she spotted him.

**Need at least 5 reviews before I update next! I know that's a little evil, since I left you with such a cliffhanger, but I've updated 5 chapters in the past week and chapter 3&4 on the same day. I've been on a roadtrip and updated almost every day, so it would be awesome to get just a little more feedback! Thanks so much! **


	7. Rec Room

**AN: Seems like whatever I do to try and fix my chapters (chapter 4) my rough drafts are always posted! So I apologize for the mistakes and confusion! **

**Couldn't really wait. I just had to post this once I finished. Glad you all like it so far! **

**I was afraid of this, but it was pointed out that I should've used Austin & Ally instead of Ross and Laura. I really did almost use them but decided against it instead. I know it's hard to capture their personalities because we don't know them on a personal level, and it would be easier to just do Auslly. But I really am proud of this so far and that there is much more in store for them, and I liked the fact that I included R5. Everything is thought out before I publish, and explained in later chapters. So thank you so far for all the lovely reviews and PMs. It means so much!**

**& sorry for my long AN's. (; **

**Disclaimer- I don't own anything. **

Her smile never faltered when she saw him. It was something she had always been trained to do. Never drop your smile, the judges or audience will never see your mistake if you just keep smiling.

But she was angry. _Why? Why of ALL places, he was here? _

_And why were his siblings here?This was weird. _

For the last eight count, Laura turned back towards the girls & mirrored them effortlessly. They all really did look great, everyone finishing with a bang.

She clapped and cheered, everyone joining in. "Yay! I'm so proud of you guys! Thanks so much for having me! You're going to do awesome. Good luck!" She said, waving and giving a thumbs up.

"Let's give another round for the amazing Laura Marano!" Jane said, walking up and standing on the platform with her, Tanya joining Laura's other side.

"And a big thank you to the alumni and veterans!" Tanya added, more clapping ensuing.

"Now you girls have about two hours to get nice and ready, the judges can't wait to see you!" Jane said, the girls filtering out towards doors and bags scattered along the walls.

Sophia ran up to Laura. "Good job Aunt Laurie! I'm gonna go pee!" And with that she ran off, one of Gerard's guards in pursuit.

Laura laughed, climbing down the stairs and grabbing a water bottle.

"Laura!" Jane called, walking over with Ross and his siblings. _Oh no. She totally forgot._

"Guys, this is Laura Marano, one of UCLA's finest alumni." Jane said, holding her arm out to Laura.

"Laura, this is-"

"We've met, actually!" Rydel, the older blond said, smiling wide. Laura only remembered her because she had loved Grease growing up. "You did great by the way!"

Laura smiled as she opened her water cap. "Thank you, that means so much."

Jane raised her eyebrows. "Oh! You know R5, Laura?"

She nearly choked on her water, her eyes going wide. _They were R5?_

Ross snorted, then coughed as he tried to cover it up. _Cocky son of a bitch. _He smirked at her as she tried to regain oxygen.

"Laura? Are you-" Jane started but Laura waved her off.

"Yeah, totally fine. Sorry. I just didn't make the connection. But yeah, we've met." Laura smiled, gritting her teeth.

"Well great! You guys get acquainted, I have some setting up to do. I'll have Breanna come by and get you guys soon, and ask her if you need anything, anything at all." She patted both Laura's and Rydel's shoulders before walking away.

Laura nodded and smiled, picking up a washcloth from her bag, standing back up to see Ross's eyes wandering over her.

Her attention snapped away from him when someone spoke up. "So I didn't know you were a dancer!" a blond, Riker, as she remembered him, said, hands in his pockets. "Sean said you were an actress. Switched at Birth, right?" He added.

Laura laughed. "Oh god, no. I mean, yes, I'm a professional dancer, but no. You're thinking of my sister, Vanessa. Sean's wife. Not me." She said dryly, realization falling upon everyone's faces.

"But what about-" one of the two brunettes, Rocky, started to say until a small mass ran into Laura's leg.

"Aunt Laurie, why didn't you tell me you knew R5?!" She asked, her eyes wide in awe as Rydel laughed.

"You never asked, sweetie." Laura signed, tugging her niece's ponytail.

"But wouldn't you know a song if you heard one?"

"What do you mean?" She raised her eyebrows.

"You said you liked Here Comes Forever in the car and asked who it was by and I said R5."

Laura froze, looking up at Rydel, the only one who looked amused, not confused.

"Oh." How could she get that wrong? This was why she couldn't read lips. Sophia almost always signed everything. "I thought you said Third Eye Blind."

Another brunette chuckled. Ellington Ratliff, she remembered. "You got Third Eye Blind from R5? Isn't she like 7? Doesn't that give you a red flag?"

Rydel punched him in the arm, but laughed along. "Hey. Don't be mean."

"Sean & Vanessa have great taste. I thought they were starting her young." Laura shrugged, laughing herself.

She turned to her niece. "Well, Sophia. You wanna say hi?"

They all talked to her niece for the next couple of minutes, Laura walking off towards the rec room for a banana.

She opened a door that said "staff" and walked in, finding herself alone. She perused the large selection of fruit, her eyes appreciating the fact that it was assorted by color.

She popped a strawberry in her mouth, turning around to reach for a napkin at the table behind her.

"You're a professional dancer?"

She jumped, throwing the banana in her hand at him, which he caught and tossed back to her.

"You have GOT to stop sneaking up on me like that. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were stalking me. Of all bands, it was yours, of all songs it was yours, and of all dance teams, it was _mine_."

"R5 _is _pretty awesome. We have like, .5 of a Grammy."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, no Grammy, but I still can't believe you didn't know. Not to, I don't know, 'toot my own horn'- I got that from Ratliff by the way" he pointed a finger to the door, "but we've had like two world tours. I've been on Disney for 4 years. Riker's been on Glee. Do you not listen to the radio or something? _And _we were on Good Morning America the day I tried to get coffee with you."

"Sorry." Was all she could offer, shrugging. She grabbed a muffin and took a bite. Laura didn't really do mainstream. When college hit, she traded her normal alternative to Broadway. Broadway this, Broadway that. She found herself humming _Memory _without even meaning to.

"In the taxi too, you didn't know, which I figured, but still. This, is only a mere coincidence my friend." He held his arms out and shrugged.

"Coincidence my ass. _You_ followed me in here!" She retorted, picking up a juice pouch for Sophia.

"I was right about running into you again. I told you." He smirked juggling some oranges. Laura rolled her eyes and brushed past him. "Well I'm telling you not to follow me out, follow me home, or follow me _at all_. I'm not _interested_, if you haven't noticed." Her hand resting on the door.

His amused expression dropped, turning into a frown. He was silent for a minute, before opening his mouth to speak.

"I wasn't asking to get in your fucking pants." He sighed, putting the oranges back and crossing his arms.

_Shit_. She involuntarily shivered at the change in tone, upset at herself for snapping at him.

"I didn't mean-"

He held his hand out as if to stop her. "No, I know what you meant. Someone tried to be nice to you and you automatically assume they're _stalking_ you or trying to _annoy_ you, or better yet, _fuck_ you. I'm no saint but _I_ look for the good in people, and what happens when I at least try to be nice to you? Or look for some kind of friendship? I know you're one for hating assumptions but who's the hypocrite now?"

He walked past her and left the room, Laura still standing there in shock.

_God. He hates me now._

But what did she care?

_But he really was harmless, he was only trying to be nice!_

No, she couldn't get involved with that, she wouldn't be able to pull herself out of that mess. She was barely able to _last_ time.

Laura sighed, rubbing her eyes to refrain herself from thinking about it.

She took a deep breath, opened her eyes, and walked back outside.

An hour and a half later:

"Your car's going to be here in about 10 minutes. I'll be right back." Breanna assured them, leaving the room.

He heard someone sit down. "Man, today's been the best." Rocky sighed.

Ross was able to be on auto pilot, signing various dance bags, pictures, and weirdest of all, pointe shoes. Riker flipped at this, relishing in the boost to his ego.

He couldn't stop thinking about the encounter.

She was so _frustrating_. He didn't mean to get so pissed, but the universe never handed him a girl who refused his efforts. Never. He was Ross Lynch! Singer and actor extraordinaire. Member of a world renowned band.

It's not like he got whatever he wanted, but this unreciprocated feeling was new. He had to get to know her, he had to talk to her, he had to figure her out.

But she wasn't interested. She hated him, following her around. It wasn't his fault! It was like she was a magnet. He was attracted to wherever she went.

And they were all coincidences! He couldn't help that!

After he had walked out of the rec room, the meet and greet had already started, everyone teasing him why he had taken too long in the bathroom.

All the hopefuls had ended up being genuinely nice, but he couldn't focus, he couldn't stop thinking about _her_.

There wasn't any screaming, "I love you's" or marriage proposals, all the girls only interested in their dance backgrounds. This was different. He could count on goofy dance battle videos being tweeted to him anytime soon.

"Ross. Ross!" He heard Rydel say, snapping out of his trance.

"Huh?" He looked up at his sister, a concerned look on her face.

"You look like you're not really enjoying this."

"What?" He asked confused.

She crossed her arms, Ratliff walking up behind her.

"You're not fooling any of us, man." He said.

"Something happened. What." Rydel added, crossing her arms.

"It's a girl, isn't it?" Rocky said, fake punching his brother in the arm.

"It's _Laura_. It doesn't take 5 seconds to shake someone's hand, stupid." Riker piped in, standing next to Ratliff.

After a minute, Ross sighed. "You guys are good." Ross said, uncomfortable on how much his family can read him like an open book.

"What'd you do this time?" Riker asked, laughing.

"Nothing!"

They all raised their eyebrows.

"Nothing my ass." Rocky said.

"Ugh." Ross crossed his arms, brushed his hands through his hair, and then settled to put his arms by his side.

"She's just, I don't know, stubborn. I tried to be friends, she wouldn't take it." He exclaimed, throwing his arms up.

They all laughed at him. "What?!" He asked.

"The one time a girl doesn't fall at Ross's feet." Rydel shook her head, smiling.

He straightened up and held up one finger, pointing it to himself. "No, she hates me! Almost like I'm the plague or something. Like what the hell did I do? Tell me I'm not crazy. Or that I don't stink."

He looked at them expectantly, waiting for an explanation. They all just looked at him, their faces blank.

"What?"

He sensed someone behind him, and shut his eyes. She was behind him. Of course.

He turned slowly, met with Sophia, holding Laura's hand.

She smiled at them, but her dark eyes were guarded, cautious, avoiding his gaze.

She had changed, in a purple long sleeved dress that clung tightly to all the right places, stretching to just above her knees. She stood tall in her nude heels, her legs toned and tan. Her long brown hair was let go, cascading around her face, which was painted with makeup, making her already dark eyes, dark. And mysterious. And sexy.

_Stop!_

_Did he just think nude heels? He listened to Rydel too much. In fact, he shopped with Rydel too much. _

"Sophia just wanted to know if you guys would take a picture with her. I have to go get ready to watch auditions in a couple minutes." She asked.

"Of course!" Rocky said, bending down to Sophia's height.

"Thanks Rocky!" Sophia signed, looking like she was rocking a guitar solo, Rocky laughing.

When he was gone, Sophia dubbed everyone a sign name except him, since he was too busy "stalking" Laura in the rec room.

It was cool to see (name) spell their names out in New York, but Sophia giving his siblings and Ratliff special signs was 10x cooler.

"Thanks for the cool sign, Sophia." Rocky signed the last part slowly, doing what Ross thought was an "S" and imitating her wavy hair. **(Like "Bay" in SAB (; )**

They all gathered together, Laura snapping the picture, Ross struggling to keep his eyes on the camera, trying to refrain himself from looking at her face.

"Thanks guys." Laura smiled, finally looking at him, only for a second before turning her attention back to her niece.

"Say thank you Sophia."

Sophia smiled cheekily at them. "Thanks Riker." Sophia signed an R and what looked like a plane. _Star Trek. Nice._

Riker bent down to give her a hug. "Anytime Sophia." He signed back.

"Thanks Rocky!" His mischievous grin was contagious as it stretched itself over Sophia's face.

"Thanks...Rydellington." She signed someone playing the keyboard with one hand and drums with the other, finishing it off with a heart.

At this, everyone laughed. Ratliff and Rydel even turning a little pink.

Sophia finally turned to Ross, questioning him. She looked at Laura, signing something silently.

Her eyes flit to him quickly. She sighed something, her eyes scolding the little girl. "But why?!" She asked her aunt, who only shook her head.

Sophia turned to Rocky. "Does he always look like he's scared?"

"Sophia!" Laura exclaimed. "Listen much?"

She could only sheepishly smile, before turning her attention back to him. Laura looked apologetic.

"Thanks Ross." She said quietly, signing the individual letters.

"Uh-okay well, thanks again you guys." Laura took Sophia by the shoulders, throwing an apologetic look over her shoulder, glancing over at him one last time.

After they left the room, Rocky burst out laughing.

"Dude. You didn't even get one."

Ross gave him the finger. "I'm leaving." He walked out towards the lobby, opening the glass door and running into a burly mass, donned in a black suit.

"Woah."

He turned to look at the guy, but he was already past the ballroom entrance, disappearing before Ross could say anything.

He didn't even apologize. Jerk.

He saw his siblings come out of the adjacent room, looking at the ballroom entrance too.

"That wasn't very nice." Ratliff mumbled.

"It's whatever." Ross replied, turning to see Breanna walking towards them.

"Your car's here. Thanks for coming today. We appreciate it." She said, shaking their hands. "Come visit the university anytime. I'll give you a tour." She said to Rydel, Rydel hugging her gratefully.

They walked out the doors, Ross turning to look through the ballroom doors one last time to see a smiling Laura, watching the dancers intently.

He made a mental note to not bump into her again in the near future.

**Ahhh! That was intense! Will or will they meet again? You never know (; **

**Thanks for the reviews, follows and favorites! They mean the world! **

**Weird ending, but I promise there is more good stuff to come, so don't hate me now! See you guys soon!**


	8. Starbucks Again

**AN: I'm receiving so much love. Thank you so much! **

**Disclaimer- I don't anything. **

Laura stood in line at the airport Starbucks, looking at her phone. Her wallpaper was the sunset at her parents house.

When Laura moved to New York, she left behind not only her parents, but her beautiful beach house she'd known her entire life. It beat every dorm room by a landslide, and sometimes she craved her old bed, where she would wake up and hear the beach outside.

Their last day in LA, she and Sophia had visited her parents, Sophia excited to see her grandparents. They came to New York for New Years helping Laura settle in, and it had been too long since she had seen them last.

They spent the entire day lying out in the backyard, the beach providing a private little sanctuary, and it was a godsend. She didn't have to worry about anything. Sophia flew in and out of the house, her grandparents never failing to entertain (and feed) her. Her father cooked them amazing meals as always, and this was what always made her homesick.

Laura had managed to get a little darker, her mother complaining that New York didn't provide enough sun. It's not like she had enough time to go swimming! She was indoors 24/7, something she was NOT used to at all. In Cali she was constantly moving, always on her feet. Outside.

In New York, she was moving, always on her feet, but _inside. _

Laura snapped out of her trance, walking up to the counter since it was her turn.

"2 Venti cool lime refreshers, please. And a bagel with cream cheese." She said, sliding over a 20.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me."

Laura turned around, sighing. _Great. _

Ross stood behind her, looking up from the wallet in his hand, his phone in between his ear and shoulder. He grabbed it, switching to his other ear.

"Listen, I'll call you back."

He hung up, sliding the phone in his pocket.

He was in a similar ensemble from when she last saw him at the Starbucks in New York. Same baseball shirt, different color, same pants, different color. But this time, he wore a gray beanie, covering up his ruffled hair.

"Didn't we discuss you requesting for me to stop following you? And then I _corrected _you, saying they're just coincidences? _This _proves my point. But you're not going to listen to an assumption making asshole, are you?" He asked, crossing his arms.

Laura bit her lip. Despite the fact that he was angry with her, she couldn't stop thinking about how cute that his brow furrowed slightly, and the way his lips, despite being in a straight line, still looked as full as ever.

_Stop! You don't like him!_

_But you were awful to him in California. _

_He'll give you a second chance!_

_Doubt it. Do you even want one?_

Laura shook her head, shutting her eyes as she brought her palm to her forehead.

"Okay, maybe I overreacted-"

"Maybe?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, I overreacted and I'm sorry. Happy?" She turned to grab her order, meaning to walking over to a counter to get napkins, until his hand enclosed over her wrist. She opened her mouth in protest but was cut off by a black mass stepping in between them.

"Is there a problem here Miss Marano?" Thomas, one of Gerard's guards, turning his head around to glance at her before going back to glaring at Ross.

"No, it's fine Thomas, really. Thanks though." She patted his arm. He stepped aside, looking between them. "I'll be over there. Watching." He glared at Ross, motioning back to the corner to where he previously stood.

She grabbed the napkins and walked back towards the terminal where Sophia waited with Tim, Thomas's twin, Gerard's other guard. _There sure was a thing about family with this security company. _

_"_You're following me." She said over her shoulder, hearing his footsteps behind her not a minute later.

"I'm walking to my terminal. Conceited much?" He said back to her.

She saw Sophia eagerly waiting, sleepily mumbling a thank you when she was handed her drink and half her bagel.

Her eyes widened when she sipped her drink, looking up.

"Ross?" She signed, spelling out his name.

"Hey Sophia." He waved. "Oh, sorry. I don't know how to sign that." He added, looking at his hands, full with his coffee and phone.

"It's okay. I don't sign all the time. I'm only deaf in one ear." She said, looking down at the empty seat next to her, motioning for him to sit down.

"Are you on our plane, Ross?" She asked.

He shook his head as he sat down, looking down at the ticket in his hand. "No, I'm not. It's a private jet."

_"_My flights at 1:45." He added.

_What?! That wasn't possible. _

Since she took Sophia last minute, Laura was able to get an extra ticket on the way there, but Sean and Vanessa arranged a private jet to pick them up, but they wanted to grab lunch first, so they were boarding inside, not outside.

"Miss Marano?" An older man with a crest white beard walked up to her, taking his cap off and holding it to his chest. "I'm afraid there has been a mix up."

"What's the problem, Captain?" She asked, crossing her arms, already knowing where this was going.

"There were two jets here for two different flights but it seems that there has been confusion and they have only set one, and that would be Mr. Lynch's."

Laura turned to look at him, her mouth agape.

"So what are you saying?" He asked as he stepped in front of her, Laura taking two steps back, avoiding the pleasant aroma coming off of him. He smelled amazing, like he just stepped off of the beach.

He smelled like home.

Her eyes widened at this realization. Laura shook her head again. _You're going to explode if you keep doing this. _

"Well, the both of you _are _heading to the same direction and Mr. Berdy approved, so if it was okay with you, Mr. Lynch, to have Ms. Marano and Ms. Marano-Berdy to join you?"

He turned to look at her, his expression wide, as if he didn't want her anywhere near him.

She took it as a no, and shaked her head. "Okay, that's fine, we'll wait for Sean's call before another plane comes, it's fine-" she rambled, waving them off, as she picked up her purse and Sophia's arm.

"No." Ross cut her off.

He turned to the Captain, shouldering his backpack. "It's fine. Lead the way."

"But-" she began to protest until Sophia followed willingly, Laura still standing there.

He turned to see her hesitation. "Looks like we use the same plane company. It was bound to happen, Sean reps R5, you're his sister in law. It's neither of our faults, but I know you need to get home. For Sophia's sake."

Laura huffed, crossing her arms, annoyed at how blatantly wrong he was. "It's not a matter of getting home, it's the fact that I'll have to be in the same room as you for the next three hours and I don't want to do something that I'll regret. And we both know that."

He sighed, Laura hoping that she was right, that he felt that way too. "Just c'mon." He walked in the direction of the tunnel, not waiting to see if she followed.

She huffed, shouldering her purse and followed anyways.

Once inside the lavish interior of the plane, Laura sat down across from Sophia with a thud. She sipped her drink angrily, a small chuckle emitting from the back of the plane. He was getting to her, and he knew it.

"Where's Rydel and everybody else Ross? Are they staying home?" Sophia asked, turning in her seat to look at him.

He snapped a compartment shut, and walked over to them, taking a seat to Laura's left so he was directly in front of Sophia.

"Uh yeah, they stayed home. I have to do some acting stuff and auditions in New York." He replied, glancing at Laura, as if trying to gauge her reaction.

She pretended to play with her own iPad, trying not to pay attention to their conversation. She could tell he wasn't angry at her, but still probably a little frustrated.

They made small talk for the next 20 minutes, Sophia teaching him basic sign language as he listened intently, moving seats next to her. She sneaked a picture of them laughing, and she smiled.

_Wait. Why am I happy about this? _

Laura shook her head, standing up to throw her trash away, holding her hand out for Sophia's empty cup.

He jumped up, snatching hers from her hand as he ran to the back, throwing all three of their cups away.

She still stood there with her hand out, a little nerved. _Nowhe was being nice to her? _

Just then they were called to buckle up, the plane taking off. When they were in the air, Sophia dozed off, and before Laura could blink, he had picked her up carefully, and took her to the back of the plane, apparently where a comfy queen sized bed hid. She tucked her niece in, snapping a picture and sending it to her sister to tell her they were on the way home. She closed the door quietly, resting her forehead on the frame as she thought intently. _It's going to be me and him in the next three hours. Shit. _

Laura turned around to head back to her seat, running into stiff muscle, throwing her back against the door. He had been standing there waiting for her, their lips inches apart.

_His eyes weren't brown. They were..golden. _Golden flecks speckled across the dark brown irises and suddenly her thoughts started jumbling up as he looked at her lips.

She realized what was going to happen, swallowing audibly, looking at him uncertainly. She mumbled a small thank you, gently brushing past his shoulder to head back to her seat.

Laura grabbed _Pride and Prejudice _out of her purse, tucked her feet under herself, flipping to where she last left off.

It took a moment before he turned around and followed her, sitting across from her, pulling a MacBook out of the backpack at his feet.

She frowned, annoyed, still trying to control her erratic breathing after their near kiss. _If he hated her so much, why didn't he just go sit at the other seats across from them, or near the back? _

He typed away, oblivious to her annoyance as she read the same line over and over again, not even able to turn a page in the last 5 minutes.

She fidgeted in her seat, trying to get comfortable. Ross looked up, sensing her uncomfort. He snapped the laptop shut, crossing his arms.

"We need to talk about this." He said simply, not an edge of anger in his voice. Just slight impatience.

She closed her book slowly, trying to refrain herself from looking up until the last minute.

"Talk about what?"

He looked at her pointedly. "You know what."

He gestured between them. "This."

She set the book in the seat to her right, untucking her feet and crossing her arms.

"Right. This. What does it matter?" She asked.

He scoffed. "To _hell_ with denying it. No matter how hard you try to avoid it were always going to be in the same place at the same time."

Laura bit her lip, a bad habit of hers she couldn't stop. There was a minute of silence, Laura trying to think of something to say.

"Okay." She admitted, her shoulders slumping. "Maybe the universe is trying to tell us something. But that sure as hell doesn't mean I like it."

He leaned back against his chair, arms still crossed. "I didn't ask you to. I'm just asking for you to be civil."

Laura scoffed. "Civil. Right." She picked up her book and reopened it. "Fine."

She could feel his glare go right through her as she pretended to read.

"Fine." Ross opened his laptop and started typing.

"Good." She turned the page.

"Good." He lifted the laptop screen, Laura not noticing the lingering stare he gave her, before he sighed, unwantingly bringing his eyes back down to his work.

**So I had a lot planned for this chapter but decided against it. So it's mostly a filler chapter. Sorry it took so long! I was writing oneshots that popped into my head and put this on the back burner. **

**I've also been reaaaaalllly busy with dance for the past two weeks so I apologize! **

**I write everything two chapters ahead but didn't post this because I still wasn't finished with future chapters and not yet happy with this chapter's content. **

**Anyways, please leave a review below for more! (: **


	9. Nederlander Theater

**So now Ross and Laura are in full mode unhappily bumping into each other constantly. What's a girl gotta do to get him off her back? (; **

**Disclaimer- I don't own anything!**

* * *

"You nervous?" Tiffany asked, setting the voluminous curled wig atop of Laura's head.

Laura sighed, contemplating her answer.

Today was opening night of the revival of Cats, and Laura was more than just _nervous. _She was excited and absolutely terrified.

Her parents had flown up to surprise her, as they stayed with Vanessa and Sean to see Sophia.

Sean even told her that some of the guys at the firm, and some clients-including Sarah-the-receptionist, were coming to watch the show too.

Laura smiled, how sweet everyone was being and how supportive everyone was. It meant the world.

"Yeah, I guess I am nervous, but I'm good. I'm ready." She sighed in content, helping Tiffany pin her microphone to her head, Tiffany strapping the base of it to the back of Laura's bra.

"Anyone special coming to see you? Besides the firm?" Tiffany inquired, her eyebrows bent in concentration, Laura watching her work through the mirror.

"Pshh. You know me, I'm the _epitome_ of workaholic. I don't have time for romance. Sophia doesn't _allow_ me time for romance since all my actual _free time _is spent with her. Little brat." Laura laughed. "But my parents are coming, if that counts?"

Tiffany scoffed. "Family and boyfriends are two different categories. There's always gotta be someone. C'mon."

_She'd be glad to actually HAVE someone besides the arrogant and cocky Ross Lynch. _

Laura shook her head firmly, shrugging. "No one, sorry. Single pringle."

Tiffany stood upright, finishing off her work with a final zip of Laura's bodysuit. "Have it your way. I need to go get Johnathan and have him come look at your ears to see if they look good. Be back in a sec" she headed out of Laura's dressing room, leaving the door slightly ajar.

Laura then realized she had to pee, so she left a sticky note on the already filled-with-Sophia's-drawings mirror and excused herself to the bathroom adjacent to her dressing room.

* * *

"And here's the stage! Were opening the doors in twenty minutes, but the cast and dancers like to warm up here as the crew does last minute light stuff." Anna, the redhead stagehand, gestured behind herself.

Her walkie talkie crinkled, a voice shouting inaudible commands. "I'll be back in a second."

She ran off, leaving them to look about. Ross, his siblings, and Ratliff stood off to the side of a huge black stage, random people stretching, singing, and milling about. Some were in their vibrant costumes already and Rydel was fangirling like no other. Ratliff huffed, "Could you calm it down a bit woman?!"

Riker, Rocky and Ryland stifled a laugh as Ratliff continued. "It's not like we had Starbucks or something, but you seriously need to calm down."

_Starbucks. The inevitable place of always meeting Laura. Or bumping into Laura. Constantly. _

Ross had avoided any Starbucks for that matter in the past week they were here, and the four days he was in New York last time.

Rydel pouted at his remarks, crossing her arms. "Shut up. Let me be excited."

"You were excited for Newsies, Cinderella, Pippin, and freakin a Raisin in the Sun." Riker piped up. "You promised you wouldn't get all-" Riker cleared his throat, "girly on us. We didn't wanna come anyways."

"Ugh, _dicks_. This is Broadway!" She gestured to the people singing quietly in the corner of the stage. "_Why _are you not excited? Ross?" She added, looking to her younger brother for support.

"Huh?"

Rydel let out a huge sigh as she crossed her arms again. "You zoned out on us. Again." She turned to the others, pointing an accusing finger. "We're not done here." She turned back to Ross, flipping her curled locks over her shoulder setting her hands on her hips. "What is it this time?"

"What? Nothing!"

"Were in Lauratown, that's what's up." Rocky said, affectionately messing with Ross's hair, Ross fending him off.

_God, another reminder. He tried so hard to forget her, but just like the real Laura, the Laura in Ross's mind was stubborn. Persistent. And it didn't help that his siblings kept bringing it up either. They still didn't know anything about the plane. _

Just then, Anna walked back towards them, Rydel straightening her shirt. "You're not off the hook. All of you."

She plastered on a fake smile when Anna got to them, the redhead completely oblivious to what just happened.

"Some of the cast know of you and wanted to know if they could meet you, is that okay?" Anna asked, a clipboard in hand.

Rydel turned to her brothers, suppressing a wide grin. "Is it okay if we visit Norbet Leo Butz first? I'm a huge fan." Anna nodded, spouting a yes before they could even blink. Ratliff grumbled as they were lead out, the read head speaking rapidly as she pressed a button on her headset.

* * *

Much to his surprise, everyone was really nice. Ross never, even his dreams, thought about being on Broadway. Music and acting were his number one priority, and he never even thought about what'd it be like to act and sing live onstage. He always thought it was cool, but never actually considered it.

Until he met Norbert.

His dressing room blasted Def Leppard & Aerosmith, as his brothers all grinned in unison.

The guy knew everything there was to know about music, especially rock, and despite the guy being in his late forties, his voice was top notch. He danced around the room with Rydel and confessed how guilty he felt, because his kids loved R5 but they couldn't come to the show because the Boy & Girls Scouts were having a retreat that same night.

They promised to visit again since they were in town for the next week, and were ushered out when it was 30 minutes till show time.

"Hey Anna, have you seen Johnathan?" A pregnant woman shuffled over to them, her blond hair bundled at the top of her head. "I need him to give me the thumbs up for Laura's ears."

_Laura. _

_Dammit, another fucking reminder. _

Rockynudged Ross in the ribs, noticing his cringe.

"Uh yeah, he just went into Norbert's dressing room. Did Laura hear about R5, can we visit?" She threw a thumb over her shoulder. **(You guys know what I'm talking about right? I could NOT figure out what the saying for this was!)**

Tiffany shook the look of confusion off her face. "Uh, no, we didn't hear anything. But she's in the bathroom, and won't be ready until curtain, so-" she looked over Anna's shoulder at the assorted blondes and brunettes, "no visitors. But it was nice to meet you guys. This guy is a huge fan." She genuinely smiled, gesturing to her protruding stomach. "Norbert plays your music sometimes, mainly when his kids are here, and the baby likes to kick more."

"Okay, were _definitely_ coming back to visit him." Rydel laughed, everyone else nodding in agreement.

* * *

_Shit shit shit this is really happening right now shit shit shit shittttttttt. _

Curtain was in five and Laura could not be anymore terrified. She could hear the people in the audience murmuring, the hum of the conversations lulling her into a state of, almost meditation.

Until some of the dancers patted her shoulders, giving quiet "break a leg"s and nervous smiles. Laura realized where she was, and started to panic. This was her Broadway debut, and despite doing a million and one previews before, there was nothing like opening night. She was always able to shake off stage fright in college, but this was Broadway. Fucking _Broadway. Broadway!_

She shut her eyes tightly, trying to calm herself down.

"_You'll do great Aunt Laura. I'll be with Mommy and Daddy and Grandma and Grandpa in the audience, cheering you on."_

Little Sophia had called her Laura, and it made her smile. They dropped her off at the theater after everyone grabbed dinner together two hours before the show. She loved them so much, reminiscing the hugs, flowers, and tokens of advice given to her before she walked through the doors to get ready.

This calmed her back down enough to open her eyes, and it was now two minutes.

She fiddled with her thumbs, humming _Memory _to herself, rolling her shoulders and ankles into the floor.

One minute.

It was show time, _Jemima_.

* * *

**This was short, I know, but I wanted to have another update before I get super busy again! Next chapter is a good one though, so stay tuned! (; **


	10. After Party : City Skyline

**AN: Not as much feedback as I expected from that last chapter and I understand. It was short and not the usual longer updates that I do. I type everything out on Google Docs and upload it here via my laptop. So naturally what I write looks much different than what some of my readers see on their computer screens. So I will try to make these chaps longer, but it'll take more time! So please bear with me!**

**Shoutout to ****NeonShoeStrings** **for always pulling through and leaving me awesome reviews!**

* * *

"And done. You look fabulous. As always." Tiffany smiled at her, admiring her work.

Laura no longer looked like a sweaty cat, but instead looked like a lady fit for the red carpet. She was wearing a stunning fitted little black dress, that met right above her knees, the open neckline going diagonal across her chest as only her right arm was encased in the dress fabric.

Tiffany styled her hair over her bare left shoulder, and Laura felt like a goddess. She stepped back, turning this way and that, admiring what she saw and the black pumps at her feet.

"Tiffany, you've outdone yourself." Laura turned to hug the very pregnant woman, towering over her slightly.

"You gotta get going. I'll be there soon, I'm just gonna go change." The woman said as they pulled apart, ushering her towards the dressing room door. "You're already fashionably late and I bet everyone's looking for you." She wiggled her eyebrows, making Laura laugh.

"Alright, I'll be in the car."

* * *

"You guys ready?" Rydel asked, waiting patiently as the guys were doing their last minute touches.

They all grunted in response, Ross running a hand through his hair one last time. His heart was beating faster and faster by the minute ever since they left the theater.

Of ALL Broadway shows in New York for him to see, Laura was in it. Laura Marano was in Cats, and what bothered him the most is that despite still being furiously annoyed with her, he couldn't help but be in awe. She was amazing.

And it was no wonder why all his siblings hid and snatched all the playbills from him throughout the night. He figured they were just messing with him, it's not like they knew anybody except Norbert.

_He was wrong. So fucking wrong. _

Rydel smirked at him through the mirror. "You look fine."

He dropped his hands quickly in embarrassment. "Shut up. This is alllllllllll of your faults."

"What did WE possibly do?" Ratliff asked, Ross noticing that he had brought his hand to the small of his sister's back. She looked unnerved.

"You guys knew this entire time, didn't you? I thought it'd be just something Rydel dragged us to for publicity but you _knew!" _He pointed accusingly, making a 360 so it would hit everybody.

They all just laughed, Rocky throwing his arm around his younger brother's shoulders. "We actually didn't, but figured after we almost saw her backstage, looked at the Playbill, and bingo. This is gonna be one hell of a night." He smirked.

Ross shrugged his brother's arm off. "Let's just go to this stupid after party, do press, and leave."

They all filed out of the hotel room and towards the lobby, snickering after him. "Why you gotta be so scared man? She doesn't bite." This caused more laughter.

Ross groaned. _If only they knew. _

The red carpet was bouncing with energy, Laura excited and nervous. Not a nervous as she was before, but people had come all over the world and from different parts of the Broadway community just to congratulate, criticize, or plain old talk to her.

_Okay not just her, but the cast too. This was the revival of Cats! Everyone involved was bound to receive scrunity. _

_Starting now, _as Laura saw Paul Wontorek heading her way as Bill (Vanessa didn't have to have him as her manager all to herself now!) beckoned her to go do the multitude of interviews.

He walked closer, followed by a blonde cameraman, Laura opening her mouth in shock, but recovered quickly. _Was everything tonight going to constantly remind her of him? _

She schooled her features, plastering a fake smile as Paul walked closer. _Ross wasn't even going to be here, calm down. _

They arrived, the gang filing out of the limo as they were met with screaming fans and flashing lights.

They had seen their fair share of red carpets, but tonight felt a little different. People were buzzing with excitement, and the grins of happiness were contagious as they walked, photographers yelling and A list celebrities popping up all over.

Riker nearly tripped when not only a few feet away, was Alice Eve, earning a snort from Ross. As much as wanted to enjoy the moment, he couldn't help but feel the constant nag of "where's Laura?".

They made their way towards the end of the carpet after doing 2-3 interviews and made their way inside.

There was a DJ spinning in the corner, Ryland abandoning them as he walked closer to get a better look. Rydel and the rest saw Norbert, leaving Ross to himself. His eyes scanned the crowd, looking for the familiar brunette. Once he found her, he could keep an eye out, and hopefully avoid another run in.

He walked towards the bar, signaling to the bartender, who slid him a beer, before a slim hand off to the side stopped it. "Thanks Jared." She nodded to the guy before sauntering off, Ross's mouth agape. _So much for avoiding her. _

"I believe that is _mine_." He started after her, plucking the bottle from her hand, taking a large gulp as her eyes widened in surprise.

She recovered quickly, her eyes narrowing at him. _"_Seriously? Unbelievable! _Why_ are you here?!_" _She huffed as she walked back to the counter, signaling for another one. "Vodka shot. Now please."

He only laughed, taking another swig. "Told you you were gonna have to accept it."

Laura turned to him angrily as she took her shot, slamming it onto the counter. "Fuck you."

And with that she grabbed the beer, heading back into the throng of people, Ross watching her warily as she left.

"When?!" He called out, her throwing him the finger over her shoulder.

* * *

Fucking _unbelievable! Are you serious, universe? Do you hate me? What did I ever do to deserve this? God how much she wanted to slap that arrogant smirk off his face. _

Laura stopped midway through the crowd of dancing people, cooling her expression. Tonight was no time to be angry. There were too many important people here.

She walked back to Sean and Vanessa as they were chatting up with Rydel and Ratliff. _Great_. _Of course. They were here for press. Of all Broadway shows in New York they had to come to this one?! _

Laura faked a smile as she walked up, Vanessa slightly raising an eyebrow at her. She didn't buy it.

"Ratliff and Rydel are here! What a surprise!" Vanessa said, gesturing to the blond and brunette.

Laura gave them a genuine smile, hoping she wouldn't come off as rude. "Hey! You guys enjoy the show?"

They nodded, the brunette's hand resting on the blonde's hip. Rydel's eyes widened slightly, before answering a little too eagerly.

Laura wasn't surprised at the brunette's actions. Everyone had drinks in hand and were bound to get tipsy. Including her, starting now. She needed another shot, but she couldn't go back to the bar.

"It was great. We wanted to do some press and saw that the show had it's opening night when we were in town! Didn't realize you'd be in it until we saw the Playbills!"

"Thanks." She shouted over the loud music, giving them another genuine smile. Laura turned over her shoulder slightly, scoping the crowd. Now if she could just avoid him the rest of the night, all was good. She couldn't handle _another_ encounter, especially if they were alone. Then she'd have nowhere to hide.

Just then, Bill made their way over to them, her saving grace. "Sorry to interrupt the party, but duty calls." He gently put his hand on her arm, gesturing to the lounge section of the venue where cameras and couches were set up for interviews. She thought she had done all of them (which at least took a good hour).

Laura waved goodbye, her sister looking at her strange as she left.

They walked a couple feet, Bill's arms still latched onto hers. "Okay listen. There's this guy here, Raymond Newman, whose father is on the board for Cats and he wants to meet _you_."

Laura stopped to look at him. "Me? Why me?"

"I don't know." Bill shrugged erratically. "Dr. Newman, his father, is a huge sponsor for the American Theather Company, naturally he's on the board. But he's getting old, and his son's going to take his place in the company when he passes away. But he wants to meet you, so do your best to be nice. You don't wanna upset him and have _father dear_ pull his donations."

"What the-" Laura started but Bill looked at the lounge again, jumping up in fright. "Oh god, here he comes now.

"Bill!" She hissed as she was pulled even more out of the crowd, her manager plastering a fake smile on his face.

"Mr. Raymond! Here she is, our wonderful Jemima."

Raymond Newman was more than just plain old handsome, his features striking as he strided over. He was one of those rare creatures, the men blessed with dark hair and beautiful bright blue eyes. They were mesmerizing, Laura's heart skipping a small beat. He looked like he was pulled out of a men's catalog, his black Armani suit pressed evenly at the shoulders as he held his hand out for her to shake.

"Mr. Newman, nice to meet you." Laura placed her hand in his slowly, looking at him through her eyelashes. She gasped inwardly as he brought his lips to her hand, a small grin afterwards that made her stomach do flip flops.

"Please call me Ray. Lovely to make your acquaintance, Ms. Marano." He leaned in towards her ear, his alluring voice louder than the chatter of the crowd around them.

He stepped back as Laura's surroundings righted themselves. Bill was nowhere to be found and the crowd seemed to get bigger. This guy smelled intoxicating, a mix of pine wood and the whiskey swirling around in her throat not too long ago.

"Why don't we go somewhere more quiet?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

She could only nod in response, a small smile forming at her lips.

* * *

Ross trudged out of the bathroom, needing another drink. He wanted to leave ages ago, but he couldn't find his siblings anywhere and if he left by himself he'd get hounded by the paparazzi, an they'd figure out what hotel they were staying at.

Needing a change of scenery, he brushed past the crowd of people in the hall and towards the spiral staircase in the back of the room. The 2nd level was just a balcony encircling the perimeter, with the DJ overlooking the crowd and partygoers dancing just as much.

He saw tall glass doors and sighed in relief, making a beeline towards it, picking up a beer from a server's tray before stepping outside.

The door closed with a small whoosh, muting the music to a dull thud. He was overlooking the city skyline, and guessed that the roof was probably one or two floors above his head. He took in the scenery with a sigh, bringing the bottle to his lips. New York was loud, and busy, and _alive- _but there was no reason for him to actually live here. He loved being based in LA near his family, but he couldn't just ask them to move to New York with him. Living 3,000 miles from the band would be pointless, he's with them 24/7. Sure, he could buy a place here to make it easier for movie auditions and whatnot, but it was pointless. Everything about living here was pointless. But something about _being herein the moment _made sense. Maybe when-but God forbid- the band decides that they should move onto the next step in their lives, he could eventually wind up living here. Or London.

_Don't even get him started on London. _

But R5 was his number one priority, and if that meant staying where everyone was now, then he'd do it.

"I'm officially done telling you to stop following me around because obviously, _it doesn't work._"

Ross could only wince as he turned around.

"I'll be right back with our drinks, but enjoy the view." Ray winked at her, opening the glass door for her as she stepped outside. _Wow, such a gentleman, _Laura mused to herself, walking over to lean on the edge, but saw the familiar black figure before the door had even shut.

"I'm officially done telling you to stop following me around because obviously, _it doesn't work." _She spat at him, crossing her arms.

"Oh calm down. I was up here enjoying the view."

She raised a single eyebrow, her lips pulled into a firm line.

His eyes widened at her reaction, realization dawning on his face as he made sense of the crude joke. "The _skyline, _dammit! Not _everything _revolves around you!" He grumbled. "Dirty mind."

Laura huffed as her cheeks warmed, mentally slapping herself for her wandering thoughts.

"You saw the show, didn't you?" She asked, her features cooling dramatically. _Civil, Laura, civil. _

"Yeah." He scoffed, turning back to lean on the edge. "Of all shows to see, of all shows for Rydel to drag us to, it's yours."

"I'm sure you didn't _hate_ it, now?" Laura asked, taken aback. There was no reason to explain it, but his opinion mattered, and she' be a little hurt if he didn't enjoy it.

"No. It was amazing, actually." He turned to look at her, swirling the bottle in his hands absentmindedly. "Who knew a 3 hour musical about fucking _cats_ would actually be good."

"Of course it's good_. _It's more than just _good. _It's the 2nd longest running Broadway musical in history. It won 7 Tony's. _Including_ Best Musical. And it ran for like 18 years. _Good_ makes it sound mediocre."

"I would say the same about you." He turned fully to face her, crossing his arms as he left the bottle on the ledge. He stepped forward slightly, the wind blowing his already tousled hair. She nearly gasped when his all too familiar aroma flew past her nose.

"What?" She asked.

"You weren't just _good _up there. You were amazing."

Thanks." was all she could offer as she stood there, absorbing his shocking-yet kind, words.

He paused, taking another step forward. "I know what these parties are for. Everyone here wants to talk to you, wants to pry and make you feel uncomfortable under the pressure, only because this is so huge. You're going to receive scrutiny, even if you _think_ you did well. I mean, according to Rydel, you're part of a huge cast, but still pretty important enough to be asked to do all the interviews. You think they really care about what you think?"

Laura's thoughts wandered back to Raymond. _She was keeping him company, all for what? To be nice, or to give a good impression? _

_He could be right. Or he could be drunk and messing with her. What did he know?_

_"_What would _you_ know?" She asked defiantly, hoping the liquid courage she'd been drinking all night would pull through.

"Been in the business for a long time, don't doubt me." He grabbed his bottle & walked towards the door, opening it, turning back to her one last time. "Why don't you ask the next person who asks for your opinion over a drink?" He saluted her, bottle in hand, before letting the door slide shut between them as she watched him walk away through the glass.

* * *

He brought the shot glass to his lips slowly, his hand succumbing in strength due to his inebriated state, when a strong hand closed itself over his wrist.

"What the hell are you doing getting drunk?" His sister asked, picking her hand up and grabbing it, downing the drink herself before crossing her arms, Ratliff sliding into the bar stool next to him.

"Hey!" He protested halfheartedly, his arms flailing in the air, missing her as she dodged.

"It's time we take you home big guy." Ratliff patted his arm, before standing up.

Ross only grumbled in response, shaking his friend's arm off as he stood up. "Why'd you guys come get me? Shouldn't you be making out in the corner?"

Ratliff just stared at him, his eyes widening slightly.

"Oh stop acting so innocent. I see all the secret stares and touching! Might as well fuck already, for all we care."

That's when Rydel punched him in the shoulder, hard. "Okay I'm done." She pushed him to the front doors, stumbling towards the elevators where they first came. "I don't care who sees you or if the paps take pictures, you're being such an asshole right now you deserve it."

Ross could hear Ratliff trying to reason with her, turning to see his hand fly right back to the small of his sister's back. She pushed him more towards the door as she glared at Ratliff, flinching away from his touch. "Get my brothers. We'll take a cab, you guys take the limo."

He shuffled more and crashed into the wall, Rydel holding him there with one hand while she dug her phone out of her clutch with the other. Ross looked over towards the lounge, the press long gone and people milling around too busy to notice the two blondes.

"Rydel, ow-"

"Shut up." She snapped at him, pushing the elevator button with her elbow, the doors sliding open and Ross tumbling in.

* * *

**Not proud of this one at allll. Wanted to update for y'all but my hearts not in this one. **

**Please review. Don't make me lose motivation please. **


	11. Central Park

**AN: School started up for me again last week, so updates will be much slower. I haven't given up yet, no worries! It's Labor Day so I managed to find time to finish this for you guys. Despite feeling bad about my last one, y'all seemed to love it the most! So thank you so much for all the kind words! **

**I made a twitter for this fic, so follow me for updates on this fic! I may tweet snippets just so yall don't go crazy from withdrawal haha! australialovin**

**Going to lose readers when I say this but- I used "fuck" five times. FIVE. It seemed off to me that I used it more than the usual 2 I do but I believe coarse language CAN add to storyline and add spice to plot. Using expletives isn't rare, they're both 21 in this fic. **

**If you haven't already, check out my amnesia fic, **_**Blackout**_**. Ross loses all memory of Laura. It's a good one! (;**

* * *

**"**Oh c'mon. You're leaving and you're not going to give your sister a hug?" Rydel asked, holding her arms out to her little brother.

Ross smirked at her, accepting the hug. She lightly punched him in the side. "Don't get into trouble now. We'll be back for you in two weeks." She said, crossing her arms.

"Lay off the bars man, you're on your own." Riker said, earning a hard elbow from Rydel.

"I learned my lesson, no worries. Never again." He saluted them, walking towards security, his siblings watching him as he left.

Rydel sighed, details of the event from three weeks ago playing out in her head.

**"**_Ow." Ross mumbled, spread eagle on the elevator floor. _

_Rydel pressed the "close door" button, not selecting a floor yet just so she could breathe. _

_Ross started giggling, pressing his cheek into the tile floor. "Rydelllll. You gotta try this. It's so cold. But it's soooo nice." _

_Rydel texted the limo driver to pull up and be ready for them, sliding the phone back into her clutch before tucking it under her arm. _

_"C'mon Ross. You gotta get up." She held out a hand. _

_He looked at her blankly, before shaking his head and scooting away from where she was standing, curling up in a ball. _

_"Gimme a drink first." _

_Rydel grew slightly more exasperated. "This is why we don't let you get drunk. Barely 21 and he can't even handle a couple drinks." She muttered to herself. _

_"It's June! I'm not __**barely**__!" He said back, popping his bottom lip out in a pout. _

_"C'mon Ross, I promise when we get home we can watch Romeo and Juliet. Just get up." _

_"No." _

_"Ross." She said more sternly. _

_"Tell me you love Ratliff." He giggled. _

_Rydel brought her hand up to her forehead, shutting her eyes tight, getting even more frustrated. _

_"Ross, get up or someone or the paparazzi's going to see you and you'll never live this down." She said slowly, holding her hand out again._

_"This floor's so cold...and nice. Perfect for you and Ratliff to get it on." _

_She sighed in frustration. "I'm pressing the floor number now...you have like 30 seconds to get your ass up off the floor. And 10 seconds to get to the door outside." _

_Rydel felt them descend slowly, the numbers at the top of the sliding doors ticking down, and then shooting back up. and then back down. _

_"Uh oh. I don't feel good." Ross mumbled, bringing himself up to stand and grip the handrail, rubbing his temples. _

_"Why are we going-?" Rydel asked, but was interrupted by the elevator lurching to a stop as Ross launched forward and slammed into the person waiting outside the elevator. _

_It was Laura. _

_Rydel couldn't recover from her shock fast enough to help them up, and just when things couldn't get any worse, Ross scrambled up, ran to the nearest potted plant, and threw up._

* * *

"Hey. Earth to Rydel." Fingers waved in front of her face as she was snapped back to reality and out of her trance.

"Oh. What?" She turned and asked, her eyes widening slightly as Ratliff looked at her closely with concern.

"Are you okay?"

She turned herself away from him, walking in the direction where her brothers went as she followed behind. "Fine."

He walked a little faster to catch up with her, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Rydel, you've been acting weird since-"

"Since what?" She asked lightly, trying not to give away her annoyance. She didn't really feel like talking to him about it.

"Don't bullshit me right now."

She kept walking, crossing her arms. "I'm not."

He sighed. "Fine." With that he jogged past her, towards the guys getting in the van.

Ross plugged his earbuds in, turning the music up. His call time was 12, so he decided he needed an early morning run. He'd be living here on and off again for six months filming, and he might as well get used to the city.

The parts of the city Laura didn't inhabitate.

It was crazy how drawn they were to each other, and he couldn't be more confused. He couldn't bring himself to admit that there was an instant connection, but they absolutely hated each other. Well, more her. He was just wary.

Jogging down the winding trails of Central Park, he admired the scenery around him. People milled about and some sat quietly on the benches lining the trail. Others laid on picnic blankets chatting with loved ones.

He wasn't used to being alone. His family always came to shooting locations with him, but ever since his Disney run ended he received more movie roles and then it was just too much to uproot everybody. They had managed to get some songs recorded on tour and in the LA studio, and then everyone would join him in the city to finish it up at a local studio here.

Although the sun hung low in the sky, the dew of the morning begun to evaporate, as he felt the air getting warmer and a small lick of sweat running down his cheek.

No one else was out running, except him and the occasional soccer mom power walking past him. He put the head of his hoodie down after about 15 minutes of silent running, just listening to the music.

He decided he had no idea where he was going, winding up and down the long trails. Taking a right, he saw someone stop to tie their shoe about 100 feet in front of him, Ross making sure to slow down and swerve out of the way, but the minute he got close, the girl stood up abruptly-sideways, and he crashed into her.

"Ow." He mumbled, still lying on the ground, rubbing his elbows (which thankfully were the only body parts that had been injured in bracing the fall).

"I would say I'm sorry, but you're no stranger to bumping into me. Or falling. On top of me." an all too familiar voice said, laced with wariness and sarcasm.

"What brings you here, Marano?" He grunted, standing up and offering a hand.

"I'm sick and tired of asking you the same question, Lynch." She muttered, reluctantly taking his hand as she scrambled to get up, dusting herself off.

"New York is a massive concrete jungle, home to 8.3 million people, and I still bump into you. Seriously?" He wrapped his earbuds a little too tight around his phone, shoving it in his well worn basketball shorts.

"Seriously." Laura crossed her arms, turning to walk away as she put her misplaced earbud back in her ear.

"You know if you run away it's going to keep happening whether you like it or not."

"Sorry, thought we were over the whole, bumping into each other thing? We bump, we leave." She looked at him pointedly, confusion etched across his face.

"You don't remember, do you?" She paused in her step.

"What?" He kept looking at her, getting more worried by the second.

She sighed. "The party. I guess you got drunk, completely wasted actually, fell out of the elevator and then puked into a potted plant, which nearly missed me."

He just stared at her blankly.

"Thankfully security pulled me out of there because paparazzi-"

"Only got pictures of me. Got it." He finished, wincing at the memory.

"So that's all you remember?" She asked quizzically.

"That's all I saw in the magazines the next day, everyone, even management gave me a hard time. Thankfully I'm not 18 anymore.."

Laura continued walking. "You got shit-faced drunk at 18? Wow. And I'm not saying that because I'm impressed."

"And _you've_ never experimented before, like once? Every person in this business needs a release once in a while, and mine just happened early. I actually haven't had a drink since that. Decided it wasn't for me early on, and decided to wait till I was actually legal." He explained, cringing at the memory of not only that horrid night, but the horrible hangover the next morning. His band's anger at him the next day didn't help either.

Laura sighed. "I was too busy being focused, to answer your question. I don't believe in experimentation. Experimentation gets you killed." She winced as a flash of warm brown eyes look at her. She shook her head slightly to clear it away.

He didn't seem to notice her uncomfort, but changed the subject. "So what are you really doing here? I mean, considering your background, I wouldn't say you weren't the type to run every morning."

"Thanks." They turned left, continuing down the winding trail, into the denser part of the forest, Laura admiring the flowers along the sidewalk. "No actually, I'm not the type to run every morning, but I promised my sister I'd visit her on set. They're filming a movie on location here. You wouldn't happen to-" she started but he finished her sentence.

"Yep. Same movie. Thought I should clear my head and explore the city before my call time. Well, the parts of the city you didn't-"

"Inhabitate. Gotcha." She finished.

"Guess I'll have to deal with seeing you around for the next 6 months huh?" She sighed.

"That's what I've been trying to say all along." He chuckled as he shrugged.

She stopped again, turning to him. "Fine. Yes."

He raised an eyebrow in question. "Yes..?"

"I'll take that rain check now."

He smirked at her in disbelief. "Alright. If you beat me there." And with that, he took off running, her following behind as her laugh flooded through him like adrenaline.

**AN: Please review for more! (: **


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